Thursday Turtle

A few weeks ago we had incredible rain clouds move in.  Rain is always a blessing, but especially in our part of Texas.

I was visiting outside with my mom, contemplating doing a little moody umbrella, rain session, when we spotted this guy literally running across the driveway.  He wasn't too impressed to see us or have Hannah pick him up.  But I thought he was too cool not to photograph.  The markings are so neat on turtles.  God is so creative!

Do You Ikea?

My Office is in serious need of organizing....again! {Sigh!} It's the one room in my house (okay my walk-in prop closet needs help too) that only I dare to go! Can anyone relate?

My disaster of an office has been weighing me down lately but I can't seem to find the time or the desire to get organizing.  We had our cabinet maker price extending the shelves and building more built ins around my photography needs but I would rather go on vacation than upgrade my cabinets right now.  Oiy!

What to do, what to do?  And then an Ikea ad appeared in my inbox.  Ikea? Ahhhh,  I like the idea of Ikea, I certainly like their advertised prices, but I've never been.  I think Ikea and I need to meet.  :-)

So help this girl out and please tell me: Have you been to Ikea?  What did you buy?  Do I need to bring a trailer when we go?  I hear that it can be an all day affair and that they even offer childcare....does that include husbands too?  Ha!!!  Just kidding.

If you Ikea, do you have any tips?  The catalog itself looks a bit overwhelming.

Thoughts From This Teacher's Heart: It's Time for Summer

Let me preface this post by saying that I truly love being a high school teacher (most days).  I learn just as much from my students as they learn from me (hopefully).  Teaching is a gift from the Lord and my prayer each day is that He somehow shines through me and that his love spills over and on to my students. 

But, all of the state testing and all of the festivities and activities and banquets of Spring have left me ready for a break.  And I'm not the only one; my students are counting the days too!

And this post is meant to bring a smile to the many teachers who just might need a laugh today too.  Hang in there....we are almost there!

Oh yes! Bring on the Summer!  Please!!!



And lately, this is how I feel:

And before my summer break begins, I should probably order this shirt.  Ha!  Not for my family, of course.

And I post this annually, but is always worth repeating:

Jeff Foxworthy on School Employees

YOU might be a school employee if you believe the playground should be equipped with a Ritalin salt lick. (Remember I didn't write these...Jeff Foxworthy did).

YOU might be a school employee if you want to slap the next person who says, 'Must be nice to work 8 to 3:30 and have summers off. 

YOU might be a school employee if it is difficult to name your own child because there's no name you can come up with that doesn't bring high blood pressure as it is uttered.

YOU might be a school employee if you can tell it's a full moon or if it's going to rain, snow, hail....anything!!! without ever looking outside.

YOU might be a school employee if you believe, 'shallow gene pool' should have its own box on a report card.

YOU might be a school employee if when out in public, you feel the urge to snap your fingers at children you do not know and correct their behavior.

YOU might be a school employee if you have no social life between August and June. YOU might be a school employee if you think people should have a government permit before being allowed to reproduce.

YOU might be a school employee if you wonder how some parents MANAGED to reproduce.

YOU might be a school employee if you laugh uncontrollably when people refer to the staff room as the 'lounge.'

YOU might be a school employee if you encourage an obnoxious parent to check into charter schools or home schooling and are willing to donate the U-HAUL boxes should they decided to move.

YOU might be a school employee if you think caffeine should be available in intravenous form.

YOU might be a school employee if you can't imagine how the ACLU could think that covering your students chair with Velcro and then requiring uniforms made out of the corresponding Velcro could ever be misunderstood by the public.

YOU might be a school employee if meeting a child's parent instantly answers this question, 'Why is this kid like this?'

YOU might be a school employee if you would choose a mammogram over a parent conference. (Today, I actually could make this choice~oiy!)

YOU might be a school employee if you think someone should invent antibacterial pencils and crayons...and desks and chairs for that matter!

YOU might be a school employee if you know how many minutes, and seconds, are left in the school year!


Here is another list from Jeff Foxworthy.

You know you're a teacher when....

1. You can hear 25 voices behind you and know exactly which one belongs to the child out of line.

2. You get a secret thrill out of laminating something (that is so true!)

3. You walk into a store and hear the words "It's Ms/Mr. _________" and know you have been spotted. (and its usually when I don't have my hair fixed or my makeup on....oiy!)

4. You have 25 people that accidentally call you Mom/Dad at one time or another. (This happens ALL the time~even in high school!)

5. You can eat a multi-course meal in under twenty-five minutes.

6. You've trained yourself to go to the bathroom at two distinct times of the day: lunch and prep period. (So true...so true!)

7. You start saving other people's trash, because most likely, you can use that toilet paper tube or plastic butter tub for something in the classroom. (or VBS~right Mom?)

8. You believe the teachers' lounge should be equipped with a margarita machine.

9. You want to slap the next person who says "Must be nice to work 7 to 3 and have summers off."

10. You believe chocolate is a food group.

11. You can tell if it's a full moon without ever looking outside.

12. You believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says "Boy, the kids sure are mellow today."

13. You feel the urge to talk to strange children and correct their behavior when you are out in public. (I totally do this!)
14. You believe in aerial spraying of Ritalin.

15. You think caffeine should be available in intravenous form. (Come on Starbucks!)

16. You spend more money on school stuff than you do on your own children. (I disagree with this one)

17. You can't pass the school supply aisle without getting at least five items!

18. You ask your friends if the left hand turn he just made was a "good choice or a bad choice."

19. You find true beauty in a can full of perfectly sharpened pencils

20. You are secretly addicted to hand sanitizer and finally,

21. You understand instantaneously why a child behaves a certain way after meeting his or her parents. (You know the old saying the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree!)

I'll Admit it!

I am a fan of Duck Dynasty...and so is my family! We even introduced my parents to the show this past summer.  I have to admit, I really didn't want to like the show, but I am a fan now!  And I miss DD while they are on break.

Admit it, you watch it too, right?!  Si is my favorite.  Who is your favorite?  I heard that Si almost wasn't in the show. I cannot imagine him not being in the show.  Can you? Maybe I need to read the Duck Commander book.

Our Rachel had the blessing of ministering in Florida at Beach Reach over Spring Break.  Most of my days on spring break, I sleep in and simply enjoy my break. This year, we stayed up till the wee hours of the morning praying as our daughter and thousands others ministered to the college crowd during Spring Break.

Rachel would text us the first names of people she was able to visit with and asked us to pray.  We weren't with her physically, but we were in spirit!  What an incredible week she had. What a blessing to serve!

It wasn't all work though.  Look where she got to visit on her way back to Texas:

Rachel texted us this image from the long van trip home. She was so excited! Fun times!

Horned Toad

As Hannah and were on our way to a quick indoor photo session, I spotted this little guy on our driveway:

It's not every day we get to see a Horned Toad.  Have you ever seen one before?  This was the second one I have seen in the past week.  They are so cool!

They remind me of little dinosaurs.  God is so creative! Just look at all of the details!

A cold front was headed our way, dropping our temperatures about 40 degrees, and this guy was looking for warmth and shelter.  On second glance, he isn't so little, is he?

He has a new home in my front flower beds.  I hope he was able to stay warm as our temperatures dipped into the upper 30's.  We went from 100 to a high of 48.  Wow!  

Dreaming....

Longing...and counting the days!

This beach is calling my name! How about you?

Welcome to the DMV-We Will Be with You in a Week...Maybe!

Sorry, I don't have Ten things on Tuesday.  Truthfully it's been a few weeks, hasn't it?  

Oiy! Life is always busy!

Too busy to be waiting on the stinkin' DMV people.  Seriously!  

Hannah finished her driving course, put in the minimum driving hours plus many more, passed the written test and is trying to master the driving portion....which has become a full time job in itself apparently. In our little town, the DMV lady comes on Tuesdays.  Except this Tuesday!  

And she isn't confident that she will be here next Tuesday!

I think Parallel Parking may be the death of me!  We have practiced and practiced and practiced some more.  She can parallel park her truck 7 out of 8 times perfectly....unless the DMV person is watching.

I liken parallel parking to self-checkouts at Walmart, mammograms, and pantyhose.  UGH!

If Hannah is anything like her mother, she will never parallel park again.  Seriously!

She will simply make the block and look for another parking space.  Brilliant idea!

My friend from Arizona told me that they don't have to parallel park for their driving test.  Hello Texas, get a clue please! Parallel Parking is for the birds!

Hannah took the test yesterday and backed in to the pole....twice!  Bless her heart!  

The rest of the driving test was perfection....stinkin' pole!

So, in between teaching, photography, and life itself, we will be waiting for her next driving test believing there is a purpose for everything under Heaven.  And one day soon, my baby girl will proudly have her driver's license and I'll be wishing we were still waiting on the DMV lady!

Holy Cow!

I can't believe Christmas is already over. Everything except the tree (it is naked) is wrapped, boxed, and carefully put away. I am waiting on two rolling Christmas tree bags to arrive on my doorstep any day now.

I had to purchase rolling bags because apparently my man is tired of, "getting a hernia," every time he has to lug our humongo tree up into the attic. I reminded him that the kind man at Hobby Lobby (love and support that store) told me it was one of their lightest trees. And since my man is pretty manly (most days, unless you ask him to lug the humongo tree up to the attic) I thought it wouldn't be a problem. Guess I was wrong!

In fact, he refused to put our beautiful 9 foot, pre-lit tree up in the attic one more time. So, the naked tree sits alone in the corner waiting for the new rolling bags. Poor tree!

Okay, enough about that....one of my favorite things for Christmas, and you know that I have several favorite memories, but one of my favorite things was this Holy Cow toy that I purchased at Walgreens.

It's a plastic toy that shoots foam balls up to 24 feet.  And for every cow purchased, $2 went to Toys for Tots.  Win, win!I saw it on the Ellen Show and just knew they would bring some joy and lots of fun.   I was right!  I put one in my dad's stocking.  Surprise:

I love the glint of pure orneriness in his eyes in this image:

 

And my mom's face as she too knows that look very well!

 

Uh, huh!  I mean, Holy Cow!  Look out!  I'll give you two guesses as to whom he was aiming.

 

If you guessed my girls, his granddaughters, you were right!  Look out girls!

 

I took mine to school this week....and it was FUN!  It's a great stress reliever.  Maybe the state of Texas needs to issue teachers with one of these Holy Cow's the week of STARR/TAKS testing week.  Holy Cow! It's a great stress reliever!

Ten on Tuesday

My first Ten on Tuesday of 2013 post.  Woo hoo!  Here are 10 things that caught my eye over this past week or things I want to share:

1.  Inspiring story of an every champion! She totally inspired me...now if I can just get moving too!

 2.  Have you tried a Neti Pot?  They sound gross but really are helpful when you are miserable with the flu or a sinus infection....mine lasted a month!  This is a new version of a Neti Pot.  Just a word of warning, it shoots a pretty quick spray and if you don't have it in your little nostril all the way, you might just give yourself a little shower or not....just saying.  Ha!

3.  Pretty Little Liars returns to TV tonight and my girls are so excited!

4.  We were blessed with 2 inches of snow last week.  yes! I wore my snowflake pajamas that night and had wishful dreams of waking up to a winter wonderland.  It did snow but I didn't get to take a single picture....we had school.  No late start.  Sigh!  But, we were all thankful for the snow and the much needed moisture!

5.  So many new visitors have been visiting my blog lately.  Want to know why?  My mom's taco casserole is a hit on Pinterest!  

6.  I heart Jeggings! Seriously.  I thought they were a bit dorky, but I now love them and wish I had them in every color.  I bought mine at Dillard's, they feel like I am wearing pajamas and they fit so nicely in my boots!

7.  Spotify!  Do you spotify. Rachel told me about it and I love it. It is a great way to listen to a new cd without having to purchase it first.  Plus, you can listen whenever you are on a computer. Easy!

8. This is my favorite moisturizer! It is fantastic, oil free, and so helpful during this dry winter!

9. Do you Pick Your Plum?  Ha! That sounds funny! Seriously, this is such a neat online daily deal thing for DIY projects.  I ordered several Pick Your Plum Deals as Christmas gifts for my girls. The deal is that you have to get it before they sell out.  If you sign up, they send you an email with their daily deals. Sweet!

10.  Tuesday nights are basketball night...one of my favorite nights of the week! I always LOVE watching my baby girl on the court. Tonight, I get to sit by my Rachel as we cheer on her sister together.  No that is what I call delight!!!

Ya'll have a super blessed Tuesday!!!

Ugg-love!

I feel like I am still recovering from Christmas and all of the wonderful celebrations! I just now opened my 2013 Calendar....and we are already 7 days in. Oiy! I hope I haven't missed something important. Our school district started back to school this past Thursday and even without my shiny 2013 Calendar, I knew the date by heart. You just might have heard collective groans from my fellow teachers and students last Thursday.

My Rachel is still wonderfully home from college which makes me think I should be home with her too. Don't you think? Ugh! Seriously, I am thankful for my teaching position, where I teach, and the students I am blessed to teach, but this break flew by way too quickly. I hear that happens more and more the older you get. Oiy!

Speaking of older, I heard that from my eye doctor over the break who decided that I needed bifocal contact lenses. Say what?! He told me to try them for a week. I couldn't see a thing! I couldn't read street signs, everything looked 3D when I tried to read it and I had the most awful headaches. Long story short, he made a mistake?! And I am happily seeing again...which is kind of important!

I have had a sinus infection since Thanksgiving, but after two trips to the doctor, two antibiotics, and two shots, I am feeling better. My doctor casually mentioned that I was getting older too. What is up with that?! But, in my old age (gracious I am only 43...okay that just looked a bit old when I typed it...especially because I wasn't sure if I was 42 or 43. Oiy!) my feet get cold. Cold... as in ICE COLD! I guess my man was tired of having ice cubes for feet lying next to his in bed, so, in all of his love and thoughtfulness, he surprised me with these for Christmas:

Aaaah! They are so comfortable and so warm and I would wear them everywhere if I could! They are the first things I put on in the morning! I would totally wear them to school if I could. And yes, I know they are outrageously expensive and I never would have asked for a pair, but I am so thankful to have them. It's cold in our part of Texas right now (I saw your northerners rolling your eyes!). Okay, it is cold in our part of Texas for us! And these babies keep my feet nice and toasty. And they are pretty cute too!

A Few Thougts before Christmas

The news from last week broke my heart! I keep thinking about the parents, brothers and sisters, and grandparents who have the heaviest of hearts this year. I'm thankful that God is in control and that He is the Righteous Judge, Great Comforter, and He is Sovereign.  I don't understand what happened or why it was allowed to happen but I pray He will somehow wrap His great big arms of love around each one of the family members and bless them with His peace that passes all understanding....and so much more!

And that each one of us will be in every moment this Christmas....not just go through the motions...but be in every moment realizing the treasure of each one and each family member we are blessed to spend this Christmas time with!  And the lifetime memories to be made.

This morning I was thinking about my neighbors and what I would make them for Christmas. I am thankful for the neighbors we are blessed to have!  For the past several Christmases, I have made PW's Cinnamon Rolls and hand delivered warm pans of the delicious goodness!  I love baking them...they are time consuming but I love how my home smells like Christmas when the pans of Cinnamon Rolls are baking!

I was thinking about making something a little less labor intensive as I have been so so busy! I still have one last minute photography order that I am waiting to be delivered to I can deliver it to my client and then I am taking a little break to enjoy my family

I have visions of sleeping in (past 5:00 a.m.) staying in my pajamas until noon, watching all the  Hallmark Christmas movies I have recorded on our DVR, getting mani/pedis with my girls, Pumpkin Spice Lattes that always come with fun conversations, fires in the fireplace, giggling so hard until our sides hurt, enjoying looking at all of the beautiful Christmas cards we have received,driving around to look at Christmas lights, Christmas Eve Candle light service, spending time with family...and dreaming of a white Christmas.  I CANNOT wait! 

While I was searching for a new recipe to make for my neighbors, I came across Candy Cane Mice.  I remember making red candy cane mice for my girls to give to their classmates at school when they were in elementary. I think my mom made these for me when I was little too.  And these simple mice flooded my mind with wonderful memories!

source

Thank you Heavenly Father, for the treasured memories I am blessed to have and the excitement of new memories to be made this year.  Please, help me to be in the moment and to treasure each one! And please comfort those who are brokenhearted and be ever present as only You can!

It's Beginning to Look...

...a Lot Like Christmas!!!  A cold front blew in early this morning.  Our temperatures have gone from 80 degrees to a high of 47.  Yes! The only thing better would be my Rachel being home from college, a fire in the fireplace, Hallmark movies on tv, lots of snow, and a snow day from school ( a girl can dream right?)!

This is my last full week before Christmas Break!  Next week is our short week with an early out a week from Wednesday!  My students and I are counting the days.   Delight!

Do you Pinterest?

I have been sooooooooooo incredibly busy that I haven't had much time to really dive into Pinterest. But, now that I have a tiny bit more time, I am hooked on Pinterest! Pinterest has captured my interest! 

I could spend hours, if I had them, just looking around. Here are just a few ideas I have found...there are so many more!

Seriously, who knew that you could dry your fingernail polish almost instantly by merely spraying Pam cooking spray? The power of Pinterest!

This is not my image. I found it from this source:   http://pinterest.com/pin/263531015666970273/


I found cool new ways to tie a scarf. I adore scarves!!

 Source:  http://www.tipjunkie.com/all-crafts/how-to-tie-a-scarf/


 And what I hope to one day have my photography studio look like. I have been dreaming about a barn...but wouldn't this barn be the bees knees???!  Hey! If you are going to dream, you might as well dream big! I love this!!!

 Source:  http://pinterest.com/pin/93238654756938872/

Do you Pinterest?  What is your favorite Pinterest pin?

Smile!

I think dogs totally smile, don't you? Why do I think they smile? Check out our min Australian Shepherd:

He is smiling...and hopefully you are now too! Have a blessed day! Don't forget to wear a smile!

Feeling Foggy

Mornings that are a bit cool, afternoons that are warm, and the hope of rain brings the fog. There's something about the sun breaking through the fog in the morning that I just love. I'm thankful I didn't miss it this morning.

Sweet Surprise

Last week, my doorbell rang while I was home for a quick bite of lunch. My sweet friend Lyn greeted me at the door with a special surprise. She is the proud mommy of the newborn donkey Louisa that I had so much fun taking pictures of. "Happy Easter!" she said and handed me this:

What a sweet friend and delicious baker!

She totally made my day...what a blessing to count her as my friend!

A Palm Sunday Funny!

I took this picture on our trip to Israel last year. It has nothing to do with my post other than I always think about this image during Passion Week.

Now for the funny! Mom and I and the other children's sunday school teachers gathered our students to do the annual Palm Sunday parade down the aisles of the church waving palm branches and saying, "Hosannah, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord."

My little group practiced before church began...and then we did the unthinkable, we handed each precious child two palm branches with ten minutes to go before church began.Oiy!

I'm sure you can imagine what happened next. Visitors were welcomed to church with slaps from the palm branches, a few little girls used their palm branches as pom-poms and pretended to be cheerleaders, other acted like they were swords and had sword fights.

Needless to say, the palm branches didn't look the same as when we had passed them to our students....the branches were a bit more broken in, so to speak.

And while this alone is funny, the funniest part is when I heard one of our students, as she was waving her palm branches, saying, "Hosannah, Hosannah, let down your long hair!" Oh my gracious. That is funny!

Granny Airbag

Have you seen this video??? My Uncle shared it with my parents who shared it with the girls and I. It's hilarious so I thought I would share it with all of you too. Enjoy!

Baylor Basketball

Wow! Spring Break came and went, Easter mini Sessions took place, their galleries were loaded, and I finished two more senior photo sessions and galleries, and wrapped up a corporate website design.  Whew!  I need a vacation. Ha!  I realized early this morning that I never posted pictures from the Lady Bears game we were blessed to attend in Waco. Sic 'em bears!

We were so excited when the lights were dimmed and the smoke began!  Time to play ball!  Hannah wore her BG jersey and BG even looked at us right before swishing 2 free throws. Really, she did!  Check out that picture!  The Lady Bears beat the Lady Raiders and the celebration of being the Big 12 Champions began! 

Coach Mulkey invited all the fans down to the court to celebrate with the team!  My man and I looked at each other to make sure we both really heard what we thought we had just heard, grabbed our girls and made our way down to the court.  There were people everywhere but we still managed to take pictures with nearly every lady bear player.  Hannah was so excited!  Destiny Williams asked Hannah how tall she was.  She couldn't believe Hannah was just a freshman in high school...which made Hannah's entire day!  The second picture is with Hannah and Makenzie, Coach Mulkey's daughter. 

The girls had fun scooping up confetti and I had fun trying to capture it. 

See how close we were? I had my prime lens on my camera, not my super duper zoom lens.  This is really how close we were....so cool!

Fun memories! We are cheering our lady bears on to victory from our family room this time as we watch them in the big tournament. Sic 'em Lady Bears!!!

A Blondie Kind of Day

One of my friends, and fellow teachers, told me to check out Blondie and Dagwood.  She told me it fit my day perfectly...and she was totally right:

Our school is installing a new anti-virus district wide on all of the computers.  It took me nearly 2 hours to get my lab and another computer lab ready by un-installing the old anti-virus and ready for the IT guy to complete the new installation.  I even missed a TAKS meeting in the process-oiy! 

Exactly one week later, my computer, the one that has all of the data for the school website I designed and maintain along with controlling the entire network, completely crashed.  I mean blue screen and all.  911!!!

The IT guy was quick to come to the rescue and two days later we determined the new antivirus wasn't compatible with the newer computers~great!  It took two days to rescue my computer.  I did have a backup of my most important things, but now I have a complete backup in case, heaven forbid, it happens again. 

I am one happy computer teacher today; my computer is back to normal and I only have one other computer in my classroom that needs to be reformatted.  Thankfully, the other 23 computers are functioning just fine. 

After the stresses of this week, I am counting the days until spring break!  Oiy!