More Chocolate Cake, Please.

 

 

Some days simply require chocolate cake.

That's all there is to it.

Make your favorite treats.

Call your parents.

Call your grandparents!

Make a special dinner for no reason.

Celebrate the small stuff.

Drink in the moments of your day to day life.

Take notice of the little things.

Be thankful for the blessings you have been given.

Today I am reminded of our many blessings and how quickly they can be taken away.

Hug your families.

Life is too short.

Make sure to savor every delicious bite.

Exceeding Expectations

This simple red carnation was taken from a floral arrangement from my grandma's funeral.

There were 3 other flowers in the vase--2 roses and 1 other carnation.

They were taken from the "Grandma" and "Great Grandma" arrangements.

I held the 4 flowers on my lap for  our 2 1/2 hour drive home.

(no wet paper towels, no water....just my plain lap)

I held them to my nose occasionally and breathed in their delicate fragrance

and remembered Grandma's rose bushes and flower gardens from my childhood.

I took a picture of this carnation today because it has been in this vase for 3 weeks.

It has exceeded its life expectancy.

It, like Grandma, has not played by the rules.

You see....during the last year of her life, Grandma  continued to hold on to life

 despite the doctor's reports of her failing liver, kidneys and heart.

This little carnation reminds me that Grandma is still with us.

We'll see it in flowers that don't spoil as early as we would anticipate.

We'll smell her in the kitchen when we make her recipes.

We'll feel her presence when we dig in the garden dirt.

Memories are worth the world to me.

I'm so happy to see this flower thriving past my expectations for it.

I love it when life treats me with something that exceeds my expectations.

Remember to take time to smell the flowers--even the proverbial ones.

Aren't they delicious?.

Life Lessons from Volleyball

Volleyball season is in full swing!

We've been on the road the past 2 weekends.

Here are a few images.

 

Girls played so great at Hollister!!!

Look at that score!

It was neck and neck during the entire match.

Having a little fun before the next match.

(And...I mean they should have already been on the floor getting ready,

but they were too busy posing for silly pictures)

 

Warming up.

 

Stretch Courtney!!!

Whew! 

Celebrating an Ace.

Celebrating a winning point!

I love their huddles when they come together like this.

 

Teamwork. 

It's what it's all about.

 

They are learning so much about the game.

They are learning more about each other.

Believe it or not...

They are even learning more about themselves.

 

Life lessons...right there on the volleyball court.

Winning.

Losing.

Working with others.

Being coached.

Being coachable.

Communicating.

Encouraging others.

Lifting others up when they are down.

Confidence.

Awareness of strengths and weaknesses.

Being silly together.

Knowing when it's time to be serious.

Celebrating the little successes together.

Celebrating the victories together.

Talking it through when they don't come out victorious.

 

High Fives.

Knuckle bumps.

Grins and giggles.

Friendships.

Hugs.

 

Life lessons from Volleyball...

I believe everyone could benefit from the lessons which this sport has to offer.

 

Even volleyball is delicious.

Spoons under our Pillows

I can just imagine my students' faces as they received the phone call

 or saw our school name scrolling across the TV screen.

 

It is a wintry wonderland this morning.

Everything is covered with fresh, fluffy, perfect-for-snowmen SNOW!

Schools are out for the day.

The roads are "treacherous."

No need to go anywhere.

(except that orthdentist appt at 5:20 this evening.....)

 

Cinnamon rolls were baked and ready to be enjoyed at 6:30. 

What was I thinking? 

My kids didn't get up for that.

 

 

 

Isn't the snowfall pretty at 5 am?

This is a neighbor's house, but I love that tree. 

 

Going back to the 5 o'clock hour....

 

 

This morning one of our neighbors cleared our driveway with his 4 wheeler and blade.

I love that our neighbors still help each other.

We very quickly whipped up a batch of spicy pretzels to repay him.

We'll have to bake something yummy to share later.

 

Anyhow...

the spoons under the pillows,

the pennies taped to the doors,

the pajamas worn inside out AND backwards

all proved to work

THIS time.

 

I love snow days.

They are peaceful and quiet.

They are full of movies, games, and giggles.

Mr. Incredible rented a couple movies for us to enjoy today.

Isn't he the best????

I'm such a lucky girl.

 

Snow days are delicious!

Now, I believe I'll go make a batch of snow ice cream

and a batch of brownies.

 

Enjoy the day friends!

 

Snow is on the Way.

So, my first graders were extremely happy about the weather forecast.

We are expecting 1-6 inches of snow overnight.

I giggle because their parents are posting pictures of their families

Wearing their pajamas inside out and backwards.

I've seen spoons ready to be tucked under pillows and pennies taped to the door. 

My kids are totally doing snow dances to get the Snowpocolypse to land on C.J.  

(go first grade families!)

I love that they are taking advantage of a weather forecast to have some family fun and make some fun memories.  

My own kids?

PJs are on inside out.

Spoons are ready to be tucked in.

Kids are helping each other study for class tomorrow.

....just in case.

One says we will go to school.  One thinks out snow day shenanigans will work tonight and we will have a snow day.

Only time will tell now.   

I know that I always enjoy a snow day.

I also know that I have a LOT of grade card assessments to begin at school tomorrow.
I will keep you posted!

The anticipation is as delicious as that of Christmas Eve.

(giggle  wink)

Patience

I used to pray for patience daily.

As a mom of young children and a teacher of 5 and 6 year old students, patience is important!

One day I decided I could not ask God for patience any more.

I felt like I was being tested.

Like I was being handed frustrating situations in order to practice using patience.

 

 

And so it was.

I continued to pray....to thank God for the good things, the bad things,

to ask Him for comfort, to support those who are sick or hurting,

to protect my family and friends from harm,

to guide us through our day,

to remind us to act in ways that others would see His love through us.....

The list goes on and on, but notice the lack of  the word "patience?"

 

It's true. 

I quit praying for patience.

This year has given me some pretty big challenges in my classroom.

When I say pretty big, I mean

B.I.G.

 

Nine days ago, I began asking God for patience again.

While driving to school having our normal morning prayer time, I finally did it.

I FINALLY gave in and gave the challenges to God. 

I laid them at His feet and said He could do better than I could.

I asked Him to PLEASE give me patience to get through the day.

 

And guess what??????

One of my challenging students was absent.

(I didn't know whether to feel guilty or relieved!)

At any rate, I had a terrific day with those who were in attendance.

That night, I said my normal prayers,

and also added "thanks" for blessing me with such a terrific day at school.

Then I asked for more patience.

On the way to school the next morning,

I again asked for patience.

We had perfect attendance.

We had a fabulous morning....all smiles, grins and giggles, with a LOT of hard work!

Our afternoon went down the toilet. 

I have to say that we made it through,

 and at the end of the day,

I was thankful for the terrific morning,

and the opportunity to get so much work accomplished.

This week brought back the old challelnges

...the ones that we had before I began praying for patience.

Tuesday they seemed even BIGGER than before.

It was a tough day.

And when I say tough,

I mean "go home and cook and clean and bake til you feel better" tough.

 

I cooked and cleaned and baked til my heart was singing again.

I took dessert to my peeps at school on Wednesday.

I haven't had to make lunch or an evening meal since Tuesday,

and I'm pretty sure that I will be throwing out a LOT of food tonight.

 

I continued to ask for patience.

(beleive it or not.)

Wednesday was a much better day.

Then we were blessed with 2 snow days.

 

I guess what I am trying to say is....

this past week has proven to be a challenge

despite the fact that I have specifically asked for patience.

God heard my prayers.

He knew what was on my heart.

 

Looking back at the week,

He provide the opportunities to practice patience in small doses.

At the same time,

He removed some of the things that require the most patience.

How cool is that?

 

Sigh.

Grin.

Shaking of head.

WHY don't I just let go and Let GOD handle it more often?

God IS in control,

and isnt' that Delicious?

 

"I Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Me"

Philippians 4:13

 

 

Lessons from Facebook

I read this little story on Facebook.  It touched my heart.  I thought I would share it with you.

 

 

Burned Biscuits - A lesson we all should learn.

When I was a kid, my Mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then. I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast after a long, hard day at work. On that evening so long ago, my Mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage and extremely burned biscuits in front of my dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed!
All my d...ad did was reach for his biscuit, smile at my Mom and ask me how my day was at school. I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember watching him smear butter and jelly on that ugly burned biscuit. He ate every bite of that thing...never made a face nor uttered a word about it!

When I got up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my Mom apologize to my dad for burning the biscuits. And I'll never forget what he said, "Honey, I love burned biscuits every now and then."

Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if he really liked his biscuits burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, "Your Mom put in a hard day at work today and she's real tired. And besides--a little burned biscuit never hurt anyone!"
As I've grown older, I've thought about that many times. Life is full of imperfect things and imperfect people.
I'm not the best at hardly anything, and I forget birthdays and anniversaries just like everyone else. But what I've learned over the years is that learning to accept each other's faults and choosing to celebrate each other’s differences is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship.

And that's my hope for you today...that you will learn to take the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of your life and lay them at the feet of God. Because in the end, He's the only One who will be able to give you a relationship where a burnt biscuit isn't a deal-breaker!

So, please pass me a biscuit, and yes, the burned one will do just fine.  It will be delicious.