First School-Free Week Day

This was my first weekday out of school. I am POOPED!!! This was the schedule for the day:

• Up at 4:30
• Got a shower and washed my hair (turned out to be a good thing)
• Washed two loads of clothes
• 6:00 -- Down to Lauren's to pick up Carsyn
• Bottle and a nap
• Grace arrived
• Breakfast for the girls
• Cleaned the kitchen (at least 3 times)
• Picked up toys
• Washed 6 more loads of clothes
• Took the garbage out
• Two golf cart rides
• Picked up toys
• Watered the ferns and flowers
• Outside time on the arbor and trampoline
• Turned on the dishwasher
• Picked up toys
• Snack time
• Bathtub to cool off the girls
• Folded clothes
• Lunch Time
• Nap time (one hour)
• Got Grace dressed for a trip to Greenville
• Got Carsyn dressed for her checkup
• Got dressed as best I could :)
• Dollar Tree for Bible school supplies
• Stopped at gym to change a very dirty diaper
• To the doctor for Carsyn's check up
• To Wal Mart for bubbles, bread, peanut butter, and jelly
• Home to freshen up
• Church for Bible school
• Playdough, bubbles, crab hats, mangers, barns and Bible stories
• Hot dogs and chips for the kids
• Home
• Got towels off the line
• Picked up toys
• Egg sandwich for supper
• Cleaned the kitchen

Tired yet?

End of School Thoughts

More big days in the news!!

After Grace's K-5 graduation on the 13th, the seniors had baccalaureate on the 15th. The speakers, both dads of seniors, delivered such amazing messages. Dr. Ken Jackson brought his message of "know where you're going and have a plan to get there" by using Alice in Wonderland's cheshire cat, Diana Ross, and the Dave Matthews Band. Reverend Harvey, whose son just transferred to our school this semester, prayed a blessing on the seniors that made me wish he prayed for me every day. We had a reception afterward and all went home. Thanks to Sal-Lee Sasser-Williams for staying the whole time (and thanks to her hubby for keeping their twin babies for her to do so!)

The first part of the week was filled with semester exams and getting ready for graduation. I cannot tell you the happiness and relief of knowing that all twenty seniors would graduate. I think it must be very hard for anyone who is not a teacher to realize how much I care for those kids...it breaks my heart to even think that one would be left out of the graduation ceremonies. Easy it is for others to say, "Oh, don't worry about it! You've done all you can. Just let it go." Would that I could! Instead, I keep questioning if there is anything else I can do, and I keep thinking what I would want if it were my child -- wait-- what I DID want when it WAS my children!

The teachers gave the seniors a luncheon on Wednesday and graduation  went off without a hitch on Thursday night. The lockers are all cleaned, the teacher gowns and hoods are packed up and ready to go, grades have been posted and transcripts printed. Wow! This has been sooooommmmmeeeee year!

Always as the year begins I pray that God will bless my efforts and help me be the best teacher I can be. As senior sponsor, I also turn to God at the end of the year. I see these young ladies and gentlemen leaving the safe place they have known for thirteen years, and I wonder if they are really ready. Have I done all I can do for them? Have I taught them more than characters in a play and literary movements? Will they be able to survive the next phase? And I pray this prayer by James Metcalf:

I want to teach my students how--

To live this life on earth,

To face its struggles and its strife

And to improve their worth.

Not just the lesson in a book,

Or how the rivers flow,

But to choose the proper path,

Wherever they may go.

To understand eternal truth,

And know right from wrong,

And gather all the beauty of

A flower and a song,

For if I help the world to grow

In wisdom and grace,

Then I feel that I have won

And I have filled my place.

And so I ask your guidance, God

That I may do my part,

For character and confidence

And happiness of heart.

I have often said that my sense of worth as a teacher cannot be measured by how my kids feel about me when they are in school, but rather by how prepared they are when they get to college. Often students come back or email me when they move on. Although I don't believe I'll ever hear from anybody in this class, I know they have been given all I have, and, for this year, that's going to have to be enough.

A Big Day...A Very Big Day...

It was an incredibly important day today. Not only did we have elementary honors day and high school honors, but GRACE GRADUATED K5 TODAY!!!! She has been so excited all week. Monday was her "last Monday as a K-5er." Tuesday was her "last Tuesday as a K-5er," and so on. So sweet. They have practiced and practiced and practiced...and then Grace has come home and practiced so more. In fact, I think I had seen ALL of graduation -- but only in little pieces. It all came together today. We are so proud of her!

 They gave their parents sweet gifts to make their mamas cry :)

 And they were sooooo cute with their little poems and songs...

 

 Grace on her way out--now for the K-5 play!

Such a cute little jungle play--I must say, Grace really came alive when the gown came off!

It seems like only yesterday that we were heading to Montgomery for Grace to be born. then in a few days she was walking. Soon she started to school, and now whe's graduated K-5. We'd better not blink for the next few years!!

Now to get the senior graduation done, and then Dylan graduates on May 25th and Daniel on June 21st.  time is really flying!!

Thanks A Lot...

• To the state workers in the white truck who decided to drive 32 in the no-passing zone today, thanks a lot. I had places to go!
• To the person driving the white car with the handicapped license plate -- might want to get that turn signal checked! Thanks a lot for leaving it on for SEVENTEEN miles!
• To the city of Georgiana, thanks a lot for your focus on safety by having your school zone at 20 miles an hour--my truck IDLES higher than that!
• To the lady working in the photo department at Wal Mart--thanks for being so diligent to check truck deliveries and site to store orders BEFORE checking the photo file for my online photo order. I'm sure your dedication will come in handy one day.
• To the Wal Mart greeter, thanks for your diligence in making sure I don't shoplift--there's not much else I could put in that tiny photo bag!
• To my machine, thanks for deciding today that you would refuse to sew a design you had sewn many times before. Perfect timing...
• To all drivers in Greenville, thanks ahead of time for reading this memo: RIGHT TURNS ON RED ARE ALLOWED WHEN TRAFFIC IS CLEAR--EVEN AT THE ONE COMING OUT OF WAL MART!!!

And that's pretty much it for today.

My Mother's Day 2011

Today has been a WONDERFUL day. We had Robert's kids overnight, and they are always a lot of fun! Who would have thought I would be spending most of Mother's Day weekend digging in the flower beds for grasshoppers? We had a ball.

Cinnamon rolls for breakfast made for a super easy cleanup, then it was time to get ready for church. Dylan had a little meltdown when we got there since he wasn't allowed to carry his motorcycle in--I could just see the fights that would take place over having only one. He soon recovered though. We had a big crowd of kids, painted hands and feet for Mother's Day gifts, handed out animal crackers, and --if I do say so myself-- a good time was had by all.

We had a little surprise at lunch--Mama and Daddy invited us all to eat. Kathy and David had hamburgers and they were willing to share! Easy breakfast, and now an easy lunch! Yipppeee!! After a yummy lunch, we headed to Red Level to deliver knock-out roses to Grannie for her Mother's Day. Sooner or later we will have her entire house surrounded in those beautiful things! The kids played a little, and then it was time to go meet their mama.

When we got to the drop-off -- or maybe exchange place is a better term-- Kandace gave me a beautiful hanging basket. I'm going to try really hard to make sure it lives. Maybe I should get Mam to do a couple of drive-bys per week. We'll see. I'm going to try really hard.

When I got home, Lauren, David, and Carsyn brought me a new camera and ...wait for it...LINDOR TRUFFLES. Oh.My.Gosh...I'm really going to have to ration these! Then Grace brought in the CUTEST dancing flower -- solar powered and water free. I'm pretty sure that one will live. And -- Vicki swears in no way connected to my recent fall that hurtled me through the air and left me stiff and sore-- they gave me a gift certificate for a 30 minute massage. Can't wait to cash that in!!

Finally, off to Cracker Barrel with my kids. What a great supper! I think Carsyn ate some of everything we had, and our waitress was wonderful. A quick trip to Wal Mart and home we came. A final surprise...Lauren handed me two Reese's Peanut Butter Ice Cream Sandwiches. Man, I'll be on a sugar high for a while!

It's been a great Mother's Day. Not a day goes by that I don't miss Robert, but days like this are a little harder than most. Well, ok, a LOT harder. But I take such comfort in knowing that he is waiting for us in a place far better than I can imagine. I recently read Heaven Is for Real, and if you haven't, let me encourage you to run out and buy the book or borrow it from someone. It's amazing how we can know something, but having someone with firsthand knowledge makes it seem sooooo real. So get it. And...look for signs from heaven however they come. I do.

FLASHBACK!!!

Time literally rolled back yesterday. Dylan ran in, and in his most serious voice, said (self-importantly, I might add), "ZiZi, I need some matches or a lighter. I'm gonna burn this big limb and the sticks in the back yard."

Now, those of you who are not familiar with us are saying, "My, what a helper he is! All young men should help out like that."

That's until you know he's five.

And the "big limb" is really half a tree that almost hit the car.

And the pasture is right beside the big limb.

And his daddy once burned that very pasture off when he was four by trying to burn that very tree down (because it was in his way).

And we had to call the fire department to help us and the neighbors keep the fire from burning forty plus acres.

And then his daddy convinced the fire department, wearing only underwear and sandals while walking with them to put out "hot spots," that I had set the fire by burning some garbage in the pasture.

Which I most certainly did NOT do.

But who do you think they believed? Yep, you got it. They brought me "Learn NOT to Burn" papers.

Oh, yeah. It was a flashback indeed!

Mother's Day

Sunday, May 8th, is Mother's Day, and I couldn't let it go by without writing about the most wonderful Mama in the world...MINE!!

If you've read my profile or ever been around me, you know that one of my life goals is to grow up to be just like Mama. Anybody who knows Mama would tell you that I would have a looooonnnnngggg way to go :)

Mama is most likely the strongest Christian I know--and I know a LOT of Christians. She has more Bibles than most churches own, and she reads from all of them AT THE SAME TIME! It is not uncommon to go in and find Mama on the couch, surrounded by study materials and Bibles, reading away on a lesson for that week or just studying over something she heard on television or Faith Radio. Often she will ask one of us to look something up on the computer, and she adds all that information to what she has found on her own. She has an insatiable desire to KNOW when it comes to the Bible and knowledge of God.

She is also an AH-MAZING prayer warrior. We go to her for everything in terms of prayer. Granny, her mama, left her the secret to knocking right on God's door -- of that I am totally sure. She prays for us every morning as we travel to work. She prays for our work places. She prays for us when we are sick. Once, when Lauren had a co-worker that she just  could not tolerate, I mentioned the situation to Mama. The next information from Lauren -- the co-worker's husband was offered a contract in Japan. JAPAN! Mama prayed her not only out of Lauren's life--she prayed her slam out of the country! Amazing!

Mama is also our example in the areas of being a wife, a mother, a homemaker, and a grandmother. "Lucky enough to be able to stay home" with us (her words), she took her job at home very seriously. The house was always clean or being cleaned; clothes were always washed or waiting to go into the washer; summers were filled with shelling peas and beans and silking corn. We were not lovers of lunchroom food and did not like to take our lunches in high school. No problem for Mama--she had delicious food ready as soon as we got off the bus. In fact, it seems like she had food ready all the time. I can remember watching her pull cans of food from the cabinet and packages of meat from the freezer to prepare for supper--all this while we were eating breakfast!

She and daddy have taught us by example: don't argue in front of the kids; don't discuss the bad aspects of life, school, or church in front of the kids; work hard; keep a clean house; honor and respect each other; the strongest love is the one that quietly perseveres and supports each other through thick and thin.

I have learned a lot about being a mother from Mama, but she has also taught me about being a grandmother. I used to wonder why my kids were just wild to stay with Mama and Daddy, but why would they not be? At Nannie and Papa's, the world stopped while our children were there. It's been so easy to follow her example. Buying food the kids like, special snacks for them, having a play room when we don't have little ones here, having sippy cups filling our cabinets, having extra clothes in sizes newborn to 6 in our house--that's just what I learned from watching Mama.

My Mama--the most beautiful words in the world--about the most beautiful woman in the world. How blessed I am to have her. How thankful I am the God placed us together in our family. How honored I am to be her daughter. Love you, Mama!!!

And the Definiton Is...

Sometimes, you realize you really didn't know the meaning of a word until you fully experience it. And so it was for me yesterday. What a busy morning it was! Our photographer had scheduled cap and gown pictures and I had some the needed to be taken, so I blocked out about two hours to get senior pictures done. We had a blast! Or I did, anyway. The seniors were all good, ready to do whatever I needed. I get group pics, val/sal pics, individual pics, and ...best of all...PLAYGROUND pics!

When we were donw with those, the seniors needed to take some for yearbook. I offered in my traditional Martha vs. Mary syndrome to get all the senior "stuff" (I forbid that word in their writing, but honestly sometimes it's the only thing that works) out of the gym lobby. I stacked and restacked, juggled and balanced, and finally headed to the high school building. Sad thing no one bothered to tell me there was a large concrete planter right in the middle of the sidewalk. Sad thing I couldn't see for all the stuff I was carrying.

Let me tell you, I was walking with PURPOSE...on a mission. And then my feet left the ground and I learned first-hand the meaning of CATAPULT. Yep, that's what I did...or it felt like anyway. All those pictures, my camera, honor cords, twenty medallions, valedictorian and salutatorian stoles, hangers, plastic bags...well , you get the picture. Actually, I'm very glad nobody DID get a picture. I was quickly seen about and helped up. I knew that God had been kind in not letting Lauren be there...we would have had to have her sedated or admitted to the hospital. She just cannot handle seeing people fall!

I knew last night I was going to be sore--physically, I mean. I suffered all the jokes about "trying to stay on my feet" and "at least you can do this sitting down." This morning, however, I had flashbacks to the time I was told to get up by myself after my emergency surgery. OH. MY. GOODNESS. Soreness...stiffness...bruises...OH.MY.GOODNESS!! Tomorrow has to be a better day!

Random Observations from Our Tampa Trip

I was going to put this in my post about our trip, but it seemed a little long. I just didn't want to forget some things I learned while on our memorable trip to Tampa, Florida for Ashley's regional gymnastics meet. We had some beach time, some shopping time, and a LOT of time in the car. These are some things I learned through observation:

• When riding with a baby who does not need to be awakened, pack a cooler of food.
• It is very weird to be far from home, stopped at a random Wendy's for a frosty and baby break, and meet a former gymnast from Greenville whose family had moved.
• All babies must like to sleep sideways or upside down.
• Pull-out beds in hotels are instruments or torture straight from prisoner of war camps.
• When riding with a person with a small bladder, limit fluid intake. Possibly use adult diapers (due to the othered diapered rider).
• Just because a person can fit in a bikini does not mean she should wear one.
• Men who lie on the beach should not be seen pulling up pants legs to avoid tan lines. Looks weird, guys.
• Old couples who hold hands are the sweetest in the world.
• Parasailing must be AWESOME!!
• It is very difficult to repack the same way you packed the first time.
• Ice cream can heal many injuries, soothe feelings, and calm restless babies.
• Just because a restaurant is to-die-for does not mean the food is good for picky South Alabama eaters.
• Eating outside is the way to go to keep babies happy.
• All people love babies; we could have set up a bucket and gotten donations from people watching Carsyn wave and dance.
• Even if your gps aggravates you, take it on trips. It can get you back home, find food, and remind you of the speed limit.
• Florida has better roads than Alabama.
• Kilwin's has REALLY good fudge. Just sayin'  :)
• Love bugs...ugghhhhh!
• You cannot go to the beach without coming home with a truck full of sand.
• Even on vacation, emails and texts go on.
• The death of bin Laden causes excitement in the middle of the night, in the middle of vacation, in the middle of Florida, in the middle of anything!!
• People who dance to the music on their ipod while walking down the beach look pretty ridiculous, but provide good entertainment.
• Girls who wear their shorts undone over their bikini bottoms look like their clothes are too small.
• It is entirely possible to be too tan.
• Wal Marts and Targets are EVERYWHERE. That's a good thing when you need baby food and diapers.
• It is entirely possible to be too old to wear a two piece.
• Babies prefer to sit in the sand on the beach, whether in the shade or not.
• Police who stop very old ladies with sirens and lights should be ashamed of themselves. Poor lady :(
• It should be a federally mandated law that all people returning from trips/vacations have an exxtra day off for recuperation purposes before returning to work.
• In the midst of a weekend in paradise, I still miss pecan trees, long red-dirt roads, swingsets in the yard, and Robbie's snoring.

Devastation

On Wednesday, April 27th, the second deadliest tornado outbreak in US history swept across the southeast states. That sounds clinical, doesn't it? It hit much closer to home for me when I thought of all the students I have taught who attend the University of Alabama. Thankfully, all my kids are ok...damage to homes and vehicles, but ok. We have family who suffered property damage, but they are all ok. Still sounds far off, doesn't it? But when I look at these pictures posted by fb friends, it seems very close...very unreal. Most importantly, it makes me aware of of the power of these storms, and I remember that God is in complete control...even over the storms.



What complete devastation. What a cleanup. What faith.

Tampa Weekend

Oh, how I needed this weekend! Lauren and I took Ashley, our oldest and longest-enrolled gymnast, to our first-ever prep opt regional championship. We had to make reservations early, and not knowing what day Ashley's meet would be, we had to cover the entire weekend. Fine with me :)

We left Thursday afternoon thinking that Carsyn would do better to take the drive in shifts. The plan worked great...except for one thing. We didn't get to eat because we were scared to stop if Carsyn was asleep. Ashley finally just went to sleep (probably to avoid hearing her belly button gnaw on her backbone). We made it to the hotel in Gainesville and literally fell into bed. Or Lauren, Carsyn, and Ashley did. I slept on the pull-out bed. My choice...Lauren had the baby and Ashley had to compete. Look for more about the bed in my next post :)

Friday morning started a little better. WE GOT FOOD! WE GOT DIAPERS!! WE BOUGHT GAS! And then we were on our way. The drive to Tampa was a really easy one...and a REALLY long one!! Arriving at our reservation, we settled in and decided to wait until after the meet to eat. Ashley changed and off we went. It was at this point in the trip that Lauren decided to fall into a serious case of LIKE with the GPS I had bought for Robbie. It took us straight to the convention center and straight back. And that's a good thing, because we didn't have a CLUE where we were. On the way back, we found a Chick-Fil-A, and I felt like God had smiled on us big time. We got our food and took it to the condo. Like was feeling pretty good. We all had a real bed, tummies were full, and we were tired.

Saturday started with a trip down to the beach. What an AHHH MAZING beach! The beach looked like it was a mile wide ( I am NOT exaggerating) and it was made almost completely of shells close to the water! Don't believe me? Look!

The shells literally looked like concrete.It was just amazing. The view was also amazing. I think Ashley and Lauren probably got the best view:

 Going up!

 Can you see the beach from there?

And they're back...you'd think they were excited or something :)

Carsyn was soooooo good. She enjoyed the food, the beach, the pool, the ice cream, and...wait for it...the RIDE. Not what we expected!!

Such a good weekend...such a good time...such good company...so glad to be home...so ready to go back.

Easter with Our Family

Easter was such a fun weekend! The kids all came to our house, Robbie's mother and daddy came, and we had an awesome time hunting eggs and playing.

 Josh, Vicki, and Grace

 Dylan, Daniel, and Kaylee

 Ready, set, hunt!!

 Taylor is fearless in the egg hunt.

Our five sweeties :)

Lauren, David, and Carsyn

We all had a wonderful time. On the downside, Kenny did not get a good report from the doctors. He will go back May 5th for a consultation. I am praying so hard for him and Pam and their girls. May God grant them peace and wisdom, and may He guide the doctors as they establish a plan for him.