Best Student Christmas Gift Ever!!!

As a high school teacher it is very rare to get gifts from students. I think there are many reasons for this which I will not go into here, but it does brighten my day to every once in a while get a Christmas gift from a student. In the past I have gotten a few gift cards, some bath and body works items, cards (both store bought and hand-made), food (which I am sorry to say I will not eat.) Call me whatever you like about the last, but you just never know. Anyway, the above was given to me Wednesday. They are a set of 4 coasters made by a student's mother. Love, love, love them!!!! They will go down in history as one of my top 5 favorite student Christmas gifts!!!!

**Lowe's**

Lowe's Motor Speedway........This is probably the only time we will be able to be on the track. It was cool to drive around the same track and think about those cars during a race going nearly 200 miles an hour. It's way higher on the turns than it looks on TV. We loaded up in the truck at the mall, dad and Todd inside the truck, me, Marcie, Mom, and the kids in the back. We bundled up in all our winter gear and got under the blankets. People were looking at us like we were nuts, but we had a blast. The lights at the speedway were a disppointment, but we did see the track. The little 'village' was neat. They had some kiddie rides, a live nativity, and an area with crafts and food. It was much colder leaving the speedway than going to it. Afterall we were barely moving in the line on the way there. On the way back we were smooth going at 50 mph.

Nor-Nor's First School Program

Look at our little kindergartener in the back row.......she was very cute and bowed after each song. She did all the hand motions to "The Twelve Days of Christmas." I was impressed. We had done alot of practicing at home.
Tug took a great picture here.

As I have viewed other people's trees this Christmas season I must wonder if I have way too many ornaments??? I think I have one for every branch. It's one of my weaknesses. When we go somewhere different I usually purchase an ornament. Should I stop this practice? I guess I just like alot of ornaments.

We start 'em early

not really.............One night we had finished dinner and she wanted to do the dishes. For a 5 year old, she did a pretty good job. Although I think there was more water on her by the end than in the sick. She usually helps Daddy dry the dishes.

Our First Project ~ Austria

We just completed Tug's first 'project.' He had to research the holiday traditions and customs of Austria. We got a poster board, holiday paper, and used some scrapbooking stuff I already had. I think it turned out pretty good. I am glad to see this scrapbooking stuff coming to good use. I learned a few things too!

On a side note: I was trying to remember the last time I completed one of these boards and then it suddenly came to me. About 12 years ago, a person who shall go un-named here, was working on an elementary education project in college. We stayed up half the night finishing it and then less than a week later, said person changed her major! Hilarious. College was such good times. (Love you friend~you know who are.)

A few Thanksgiving pics

Aunt Carol and Uncle Don

I think the last time the three of us were pictured together was at our wedding.

An Update

I didn't realize it has been so long since I last posted. I have some pictures I could post, but really, I am too lazy to get off this sofa and go and get my camera. So you'll just have to do with my words..........we had a great Thanksgiving. My aunt, dad's sister, came up from Fla. with her husband and we all had dinner together. It was a great time. She made me realize, unknowingly, how much I miss my grandma. She looks so much like my great grandmother, it's a little uncanny. And it's hard to realize that we all get older. Time passes whether we want it to or not. I mean, I have aunts who are in their 60's. It just doesn't seem possible.

As for the passage of time, I CANNOT believe that Christmas is right around the corner. It seemed a little surreal getting the Christmas decorations out this year. I guess what they say about time going faster the older you get really is true.

Here's another one.........as for a age..........I have become more aware of my age with each passing month especially where my health is concerned. I am trying diligently to take care of myself. I have been having intermittent chest pains for the past several weeks. Went to the doctor everything checked out fine. So not sure if it's pulled muscles, gas or what. When you hear stories like a 34 year old dad dying of a massive heart attack it's scary. It's not that I am afriad of dying per se........I know where I am going. It's the thought of all the things I would miss. I guess it's the busy body in me.

Ok.......this subject is way too heavy. Onto brighter things...........I am very excited about our trip to Savannah after Christmas. We are calling it my 33 year old birthday trip. Which reminds me that I better go and make reservations to stay somewhere soon. There goes that passage of time thing again.

I really wish we could have an ice delay to school tomorrow, but that is most definitely wishful thinking. My kids are eating me out of house and home right. No more early dinners around here, even if Daddy has to go back to the school. Speaking of school......could things be any crazier in that realm???? I need another break already and we just got back from Thanksgiving. Thankfully there is not a long haul before Christmas break.

Getting ready to watch "Rudolph" with the kids here in a few. I just love the old Christmas classics..........speaking of which........if you haven't seen "A Christmas Story" it really is a must. It's my absolute, all time favorite holiday movie.

I finally got my two "permanent" front teeth. I'll post a picture of those sometime in this century. I promise. I finally feel good about my smile. :) Gotta go........the buzzer went of on the washing machine. A girl's work is never done.

New 'Do

Check out the new 'do of our girl. We did a stack in the back...........I think it's very cute. And we got alot of hair cut off. Hopefully it will be a little easier to manage. I don't know how you moms do it.......having those girls with super long locks. Wow!!! Scroll down for several new posts.

On another note just some things to jot down here:
1. Very glad baseball season is finally over. There is a little break before basketball starts. We'll see how that goes since it's year one for Tug.
2. Here's something I NEVER thought I would do: bought a pair of flannel sheets for our bed. Me..........crazy........hot all the time in the past. Not any more. I haven't been able to get warm for 3 weeks. Not sure what that is all about.
3. Tug and Nor had their 1st sememster conferences today. They are both doing great. I am one proud mama. Nor is doing great, we'll just have to work on her writing. Still not sure how two right-handed parents ended up with two left-handed kids. And Tug is reading at a 4th grade level. I love that he loves to read. It really warms my heart.

Weekend in Greer

Look at these beautiful girls!!!! Nor and I headed to Greer the last weekend in October. This should have been the first post of the night if I was going in order, but oh well. We had dinner and headed for some fun at BAC's house Friday night. Got up and headed to AU homecoming on Saturday morning.......in the freezing cold I might add. What a disappointment this year!! The only homerun was the bookstore. But the disappointment I'll save for another post. Then, thankfully, we were able to meet up with AES after a super lunch at Brick Street Cafe. We did some shopping and hung out. I love times that I can just spend some time with my favorite girls.

Despite the disappointment of AU's homecoming, they did have awesome face painters. Oh and I did score a free homecoming t-shirt..............sponsored by none other than SKINS. Only AU people are going to get that.

Halloween '11

My Hermione from Harry Potter and my top gun pilot............that top gum outfit was a major score by the way at TJ Maxx. Suit, hat and glasses for $20. I thought that was great deal. We headed to a truck or treat at a local church and then headed back to our neighborhood. Below is the score.

The Score

Before you think I let the kids rot their teeth out.......they really have only had a few pieces of this candy. I gave alot of it out to my students at the high school today.

LNHS Truck or Treat

This is the second year we've been able to do a 'costume run.' The student council at LNHS hosts a trunk or treat every year with tons of candy, face painting, a bounce house and this year they had hay rides. The kids always have a blast. I was glad to see the kids go conservative on the face painting..........

Halloween Sweet Treats

The Great Pumpkin Carving of 2011

Yes folks, that is a power saw. If we didn't have this, we will still be here trying to cut into them.

The finished product at night. I put four tea lights each in them. And they looked great from the road.

A New Smile

Before

I think most of you who read this blog know my teeth story. I was about 8, riding a bike, popped a wheely. Came down off that bike and my mouth hit a brick sticking up out of the ground. Blood and pain like you cannot imagine. One tooth had fallen out. After several years of dentist treatment and abcesses..........it was one of those things I didn't really think about. But it has always bothered me that I didn't have a very pretty smile. Those two front teeth are not very attractive as you can tell from the above picture.

Fast forward to the past couple of years and they had started to bother me. I thought I wanted to have them pulled and implants put in.........very expensive to say the least. But after one consult with a dentist who could do that, he wouldn't. He said I should save the teeth. And that he could never make my two front teeth look right because of the way my gums were designed. I appreciated his honesty.

I found a dentist here in M'ville who could do the root canal on my right tooth. It was the right one that had a cyst/infection in it. So I had the root canal about a month ago and they packed it with medicine to get rid of the infection. The infection had also started to eat away at the bone up there. Thankfully I could see that starting to be reversed on the x-ray today. Today, they finished the root canal and then I headed to the other dentist who does veneers. The ones in the picture below are only temporary. But I am so happy to have a better smile!!!! And can I just say that I think my mouth was stuck about 10 different times for all the shots..............ya'll this was huge for me. I mean, who really likes to go to the dentist??? But when it comes down to work like this.....it takes alot of courage. Thank you God!!!!

After
So, what do you think??? Can you tell the difference?????

Annual SC State Fair

We always have to check out the animals when going to the SC State Fair. This was the stop that started the conversation of Tug wanting a hampster. Is there a 'p' in that? Who knows. Anyway, I just don't want to go there yet. Our last 'pet' was a fish and that was nice. It was low maintenance. We shall see................

I always love to see what the year's sand sculpture will be. This is the state capitol building, very cool.

This picture was taken after partaking in some snow cones. As usual, even though Columbia is less than a 2 hour drive from our house, it's always much warmer there. I dressed the kids right for once. Love all the mums and fall colors.

That hand you see in the car...........my husband. This was a huge feat for him. He's just as much afraid of heights as I am. But he was willing to do it for his little girl. I was proud of him!!!

Cutie

Getting this picture was like pulling teeth so it had to be on here. I posted several things today............cannot believe we are nearly mid-way through October and I hadn't posted. I can't believe how crazy our lives are right now. Practices, games, work, school. I really don't know whether I am coming or going half the time. So many things going on.

Here's some big news: I am about to be a hip-hop drop out. I haven't told the studio yet, but there are two reasons. Todd's class in the spring is on Tuesday nights and I am not paying for those classes, dance class and then paying for a babysitter four nights a month. That would just be crazy. And the other reason is that they are doing a throw back to older music b/c of their 25th anniversary and I am not feeling it. I am just not having fun with it. So I think by the end of October I will be done with hip hop for this year and stick to doing zumba.

Baseball Time

Here's my lefty batter. Tug is doing machine-pitch baseball this fall. This is another sport we went out on a limb for. Tug played t-ball about 2 years ago and was bored out-of-his-mind. He said he wanted to do baseball this fall instead of soccer so we went with it. He has really enjoyed it. The first few games were rained out as you can see from the pictures below. However, today was a beautiful day for baseball. They have won all their games except one..............we lost today 5 to 4. It was a tough game.
Taking a few practice swings..............

Bummer...........another game rained out!

Soccer Time

This fall Nor is playing soccer. We didn't play in the spring, because last fall she didn't seem to be 'in to' it. So we figured we'd give it another try. Boy were we surprised at the first game. She was up and down that field like a champ. She has really enjoyed it. Perhaps we have finally found her niche. Or it could be that as long as she has an audience she'll do great. At least that is what our friend Rhonda T. says. She does great at goalie too!!! Yesterday she took a ball to the face, got right back up and defended that goal. Not a tear in her eye.

Fall Fun

Recently we have been to two apple festivals. These two pictures were taken at the Wilkesboro Apple Festival. I must say I was not mentally prepared for that one. Everyone said it was a great festival and they were right. We had a good time, bought apples this time............which I have made 3 apple crisps from. I tell myself that it isn't too unhealthy when made with splenda, right????

The other apple festival we went to was in Hendersonville..........a long drive. I followed the directions from mapquest, not sure I would do that again. It would have been quicker to go to Asheville and then drop down. It's a cute little town, but not nearly as huge a festival as W'boro. And for some unknown reason we didn't get apples. I think we didn't want to carry them around all afternoon. Although we did score some of the best apple cider I have ever had. Oh how I love this time of year!!!!

Nickel and Dimed

This is not a complaint post, althought it might sound like one. Seriously I should probably get used to this because it's probably all down hill from here. Here goes: I don't think I was mentally prepared for all the money (here and there) we were going to have to spend now that we have two in school. It didn't seem so noticeable with just one, but now that two are school age I have really picked up on this. BTW-Nor has had a much easier transition to kindergarten than I had anticipated. She was so irritated the other day, she got a green. That means you have a good day but you had one warning. I asked, "What did you get in trouble for?" She sighed, rolled her eyes (oh my. already), and said, "Singing in the hallway." Really???? I know elementary school is a totally different world from what I am used to as a high school teacher. But if I found students singing in the hall I do believe I would jump for joy. I told her, "best just to not sing in the hall anymore. So when you want to break out into the theme song from Annie better think twice.

Anyway, I digress. The original point of this post was to talk about how we are getting nickeled and dimed to death. First for Tug it was $10 for the class t-shirt. Then a few days later it was $8 for the class field trip in a few weeks. Then a few days later I got a notice for $12 for Nor, class tshirt and a magazine subscription. Then the scholastic book order came home with her and and we just HAD to order a few books. A few days after that I got a paper for another $10 for Nor's class field trip at the end of Oct. And the most recent was school picture order forms yesterday (pre-pay) for pictures tomorrow. It doesn't seem like alot one at a time, but boy does that start to add up. I wonder what the next request will be???? Oh wait, I already know........the school-wide book fair is in two weeks. Get those checkbooks ready my friends.....

Confessions of a Fat Girl Part 9

This is not the greatest of pictures but I think it demonstrats what this post is about. By no means is this a 'brag' post. This is more of an evaluation of where I was a year ago. When you look at yourself in the mirror everyday sometimes it's hard to see. But I got my new staff id the other day and compared it to a year ago. It was evident to me that there has been a change.

I was looking back at my weight loss journal. I started my journey the Tuesday after Labor Day one year ago. I had my first 'weigh in' on 9/15. I started out doing weigh ins on Tuesdays then changed to Saturdays. I am not ready to put any numbers out there in cyber world......about where I started and where I am now only because I am frustrated coming off the summer. I have maintained, however I have not lost. Things are crazy right now and getting back into the exercise routine has been difficult to say the least. But I guess I can say that maintaining is certainly half the battle so that is a small victory, I think.

I will share why I decided enough was enough. August of 2010 found me in the office of my OB-GYN for my yearly exam. I KNEW what the scale would show. I KNEW it. However, seeing that number nearly brought me to my knees. I was practically in tears. I don't know what it was exactly in that moment b/c the number wasn't a shock. I just think it was a real wake up call. How could I have let myself get this big. Then I preceded to talk with the doctor about my weight history. I started going to this OB in the middle of my pregnancy with Tug. This is the largest I have ever been in my life. It was time to do something. She gave me some suggestions for starting my journey. I think maybe in the back of her mind thinking I wouldn't really do anything about it. I see her again next week and I can NOT wait for the reaction. That will be one of the confirmations that all this hard work has paid off.

My second epiphany came a couple of weeks later also in the month of August. This is the hardest one to share partly because it's so embarrassing and partly because I was so crushed. We decided to head to Carowinds with my mom and brother. Anyone who knows me knows I am terrified of heights but love the thrill of a roller coaster. My brother shares that love of the thrill. We decided we HAD to ride the Intimadator ride. You know.......the tallest/fastest roller coaster in the southeast. Well, we walked our way toward the ride. They had a 'fitting' seat outside the ride. The place you could go to check to make sure you 'fit'.........that the safety harness will close without you having to wait in line and find out in the most embarrassing of ways. As if my way wasn't bad enough. I could barely get my hips in the seat and when I went to strap down the bar it just wouldn't lock. And here is one of the ride operators practically standing on the bar to make it lock. I couldn't believe it.........I mean I could.......I knew I was capital F A T, however that had NEVER happened to me before. Being turned away from something I wanted to do because I couldn't fit. That's it folks. Those two occurences where the changing factors in my life. I thank God for those two moments. They were the wake up calls I needed. I don't ever want to go back there. And by the grace and power of God I can lose another 50 pounds. That is my ultimate goal. I hope you'll cheer me along and pray for my strength/will power...........I thank you thus far for all the encouragement and praise. It has made the biggest difference and meant so much to me.

Another First Day

Kindergarten

I can't say that I am fond of staggered start, but at least for Nor I got to pick the day. So she started today and goes the rest of the week. She had a successful first day, although I am wondering what she will think when the whole class is there tomorrow. Should be interesting. I have a VERY tired little girl on my hands tonight. I can't say she is in the best of moods just because she is so tired. I think we'll back the bedtime up another 30 minutes. Even I am ready to get in bed by 8:30. Thank goodness it's getting darker earlier.
Check out my BIG kids on the front porch. They were raring and ready to go this morning. Tug was very worried about Nor finding her way around without him, Mommy or Daddy but she did great. I wish I could freeze time.............they are such a fun age!!!!

2nd Grader

Fun Friend Time

We ALWAYS love it when Miss R comes to visit. She arrived on Friday, we got massages. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Then met T and the kids for pizza before the 1st official football game of the season. We went to *Brooklyn Boys.* R said the pizza was good but T and I wouldn't know. I ordered a pizza that never came. Poor T.......after that neither one of us felt like eating. So we headed to the football game and had to park in the back 40. We stayed about an hour. It was fun for R and I to observe the hs students. Saturday morning we had decided we wanted to CHILL. We had a big b'fast and then Miss R came up with a treasure hunt. She drew a map and everything. All the red dots indicate 'treasure.' She knows my house better than I do. Then we had Mexican for lunch and a trip to Target. A nice, restful weekend before hitting the grind. A crazy week to come for sure. The kids get to meet their teachers tomorrow. Ready for them to start school even if I am not. :)