My Baby’s Growing Up

Zeb is growing, and he’s growing fast! He’s now twelve weeks old and is into everything! We can’t get him to a fenced in yard fast enough!

His nicknames range from Zebberman, Zeberoni, Zebberific, Zebberoo…..the list goes on depending on who is talking to him and for what reason.

His brothers next door are growing just as fast, and Rip {the black dog} is in the lead for being the heaviest. Tag {the blue merle}  is the fastest. Zeb {red tri} is the rowdiest! It’s funny that they all look so different but come from the same litter!

And when they play….it always resembles this to some degree. A minimum of two referees  must always be on duty to separate them and save an ear or an eye from being ripped from a body. Lord, help us!

At least this sweet face does exist at various points through the day. It may just be what saves his life when he chews into something important. Haha!

A New Start

Last year, I was new to second grade. When I found out I was moving grades, I was in the beginning of graduate school, and I was freaking out because I wasn’t sure what all second grade entailed. Therefore, all of my time and energy went into trying to prepare resources and basic necessities for the upcoming year. This year was a whole new ballgame though!

My goal was to paint the nasty walls that were filled with grimy handprints and a substance that resembled a soda that was splattered all over one of the walls. I covered in the best way possible last year, but I couldn’t stand it another year. The paint was supplied, and I got right to work. Who says teachers have summers off? I’ve spent the last week up there trying to get as much done as possible, and I will probably spend most of my time this week working as well.

This is what I ended with at the end of the day last Monday. A whole day of painting and moving furniture equals one gal who could barely move and spent the better part of the night and the next day on the heating pad and ordered take-out.

As the technology guy said when he stopped by, I had a mess!

Luckily, I have made great progress, but I still have much more to do. I’ll be providing better photos later on the details of the room, and the finished product. This is where it stands as of today though.

I’m in a room with no windows to the outside world, so I’ve tried to my best to make the room as bright and cheerful as possible. I think I’m on the road to that, and I can’t wait to put the finishing touches on it. I wish I could put a skirt of some kind on the computer table to hide its ugliness. I love technology, but I hate the wires that come with it. I dream of a classroom one day with minimal wires. Wouldn’t that be nice?

Here is one great idea I found on Pinterest and brought to life!

I found this great free printable, and I attached it to some crazy straws! It’s a small, but thoughtful gift to recognize the birthdays of my students.

I hope you all are having a terrific start to your week! Grad school is officially over for me, and I’m adjusting quite easily to my freedom.

Be back soon!

101 List Progress…..

Believe it or not, I have actually made progress on my 101 list, but I really haven’t documented it with pictures like I had wished. For whatever reason, I have blogged about some of these things, but didn’t officially mark them off the list. So, this is me officially taking it right off the list.

{Number Two}

We not only added on a patio to the back of the house, but we also added on a sidewalk to make the front of the house more appealing.

(Number Twenty}

Colby and I went hiking in the Smokies on our last vacation. While it was not a long hike like I anticipated, it was still pretty awful since I wasn’t prepared for what was about to come. Clingman’s Dome did me in to say the least!

{Twenty-Five}

Colby and I have built up a little emergency fund since all of our debts were paid off at the beginning of this year {aside from student loans}. It always makes a gal feel better to know there’s money stashed away in case of an emergency. Thanks, Dave Ramsey!

{Twenty-Nine}

On our way up to the mountains, we stopped by to see Judd and Abby in Birmingham, so we could stretch our legs, visit a little, and fill our stomachs with some amazing food. It’s definitely a move we will be making on our future trips as well! It made the trip seem much shorter than it actually was, and we still made great timing!

{Thirty-One}

In the past several months, I have been trying to do my part at our church, and I really wanted to organize a project for our church that would hopefully bring in more members and send a great message. In December, I organized a Christmas program, which was not like any Christmas program our church had ever seen. I hope for bigger and better this upcoming year. Then, I set our church up a Facebook page to communicate with members and our community. Most recently though, we had a new preacher enter our church, so I thought what better way to spread the word than Facebook and postcards. I had some postcards designed, and we sent them right on out. It’s nice to see those faces that haven’t been to our church in years show up! That proves that the postcards are working on the hearts of those in our community, and that really makes me proud!

{Forty}

As you have seen in a previous post, we finally got curtains in the kitchen. I have praised the Lord for them many times this summer. It’s not the sweat factory that it once was in the mid-afternoon.

{Seventy-One}

I finally made a decision on bedside tables, and we love them so far. It was a great buy from Target, and it really meets our needs!

{Eighty-Five}

Since my parents are trying to sell their house, I had no choice but to be loaded up with all of my remains of my childhood and bring them on over to my house. I still don’t know where I’m going to put some of this stuff. So many memories!

{Ninety-Eight}

Instead of updating to a newer iPod, I decided to update to an iPad. When we got them at school, I fell in love and had to have one of my own. It’s handy dandy for sure! I hardly go anywhere without it.

So, that’s it! I have to say that I have really enjoyed my 101 list, and I can’t wait until it’s time to update it. So much changes in 1,001 days, and goals that were once important become obsolete or not quite as important as it once was. When my time is up, I think I’ll redo it to reflect all of the new changes that are going to be taking place in our lives.

It may sound dumb, but a list like this really holds you accountable and makes you feel great when you get the chance to mark something off! Make one for yourself! You’ll like it!

The light at the end of the tunnel!

Ya’ll the end is finally here! This is the FINAL WEEK of grad school. All major assignments are submitted, and the only thing standing between me and degree is finals and finding out whether I passed comprehensive exams {which I feel pretty good about}!

I hope I never have to look at or write another research proposal for the rest of my life! I’m so grateful that I followed my gut and waited to take that class until summer. I can’t imagine having to juggle all of that while actually working. Thank the Lord for summers off!

Now, it’s on to painting and preparing my classroom for a new school year! And it will definitely be new since we’re getting a new principal and vice principal! My focus isn’t really even on that though since I have so much more to worry about and get done. I feel WAY behind, and I’m afraid all of those things I wanted to do in my classroom this year might not happen. I hope I’m wrong though because I really want it to be organized, cute, and ready to learn in! My theme this year is so darn cute, too! I can’t wait to reveal it all to you later on!

Since this post is all over the place, I thought I would share with you what may have caused me a little extra stress this summer. Let’s just say that he better be glad he has those sweet, tan cheeks! This is just one of the many days that I walked in the laundry room to find something devoured. Yesterday morning it was the dryer vent. Yes, you read that right. He chewed right through it, and I was sure Colby was going to hit the fan. Luckily, I was wrong. He has a bit of a soft spot for the dog, but I doubt he escapes total wrath since he did cause so much damage.

Feast your eyes on this!

Who am I kidding though? I love that dog to death, and it’s nice to have some company around. Hanging around the house gets old real fast when you have no other choice. Having him has forced me to escape the cave we call our house during the summer and go out and enjoy some sunshine!

I hope you’re enjoying what’s left of summer! I hope to finally start really enjoying mine! Lots to do, but it will at least be by choice!

Oh, and I have some big news coming up! For those of you who might already know…ssshhhh!

Until then!

The 4th with the Fam

I’m only 10 days late….better late than never though.

Colby and I had a great time with both of our families on the 4th of July. It’s so nice for everyone to be able to come together and celebrate our country’s freedom.

In my opinion, you can’t celebrate Independence day without flying our country’s colors and putting the appropriate wreath on the door!

The boys {and girls} played a friendly game of horseshoes. It brought back memories of July 4th family reunions at my grandmother’s when I was a little girl. Their yard became outfitted with horseshoes, croquet, a volleyball net, and probably so much more that I’m forgetting. With plenty of cousins to play with, it was always a lot of fun, but still very hot. That’s when the pool became our splashing grounds. By the end of the day, we were beat.

This year the cousins swimming and playing in the pool boiled down to these two little chipmunks!

Overall, everyone enjoyed talking and catching up with each other. Even though most of us are family that lives in the same town, it’s rare to get us all together, so the talking can really get going.

After enjoying a delicious lunch, we made the drive out to the country to enjoy a little more R & R. As you’ll be able to see, our celebrations on the 4th revolve a lot around food….and homemade ice cream.

Abby was responsible for gathering up flowers and filler from around the farm for our table centerpiece.

Dot and Terry made the ice cream.

I supplied the shrimp {Colby, Dot, & Terry prepared them the night before}, and Judd and Colby made the feast that included shrimp, potatoes, corn on the cob, mushrooms, and Conecuh sausage. If you’ve never tried it, you’re missing out!

Luckily, the rain didn’t stop the show from going on, and we all really had a terrific time. We were all tuckered out pretty early and decided to sit out on watching fireworks.

What does your 4th of July festivities consist of? Ours revolves around the 3 F’s….Friends, Family, and Food!

And better late than never…

Thanks to all of those who enable us to enjoy the freedom that our country gives us! Without your sacrifices, we wouldn’t have the life we have!