Teacher Appreciation Week

"To teach is to touch a life forever."

I think this is the hope of every teacher out there, whether you are instilling the alphabet and social skills into tiny little minds or preparing them to go off to college and the real world.  This week is teacher appreciation week so not only am I thinking about the work that I do with my kids - the sweet ones, the difficult ones, the eager ones, and all the ones in between - but I am also thining about teachers that shaped me to be who I am today.  There are some who I cannot tell because they are no longer with us, like Ms. Bagley, my senior English teacher.  I think of her often and long to tell her the impact that she made on me.  My favorite Ms. Bagley moment was when I was in One Act Play and had been having a particularly bad day and she came up and asked me what was wrong and told me, "I love you; after all, you're one of my own kids."  That has always made a tremendous impact on me as I think about how I treat the students in my class and, to be honest, while I hope that they leave my class with a knowledge of the difference between terms like simile, metonmy, synecdoche, and apostrophe, the truth is that I hope that they leave just a little better people.

I would also like to say thank you to some of my other teachers like Mrs. Dearmore who taught me cursive and really helped me to know that doing the right thing always pays off. She was kind and gracious to us in her 3rd grade classroom and she has left a mark on me forever.  I also have such a fond spot in my heart for my 5th grade teacher, Ms. Watson.  She has the sweetest hug, most lovable demeanor, and also helped me to understand that performing to high standards was so important in life. She is still one of the sweetest people I know.

Who can forget Mr. Schultz?! Those of you who had him or have been blessed to know him have been changed by his humor, intelligence, and just way that he makes you feel good about yourself.  I got to do summer theatre with him while in elementary school and then had him as a SEARCH (G/T) teacher.  I remember why you aren't bad for a sub. . i.e. the boys playing poker while he was out one day . . . and I will never forget the Celebrity Trash Show.  He had us write to celebrities to ask them to donate items to our "show".  Little did we know that we were learning about using our resources and letter writing skills, we were just so excited about what we would receive.  And, lo and behold, Whoopi Goldberg sent me an autographed photo and a signed pin from her movie Sarafina.  (Other items included a box of prom dresses from Seventeen magazine, Mrs. Fields goodies, and a signed pizza box from Jay Leno.)  Thank you for all you still do for your students, Mr. Schultz.

When high school came, I grew to love teachers like Mrs. Herndon who was our Student Council sponsor.  When I saw her recently, we picked up right where we'd left off so many years ago with her sweet, personable demeanor and genuine interest in what you have to say.  It occurred to me later that she was such an incredible influence on me even though I never actually had her in class.

I can't thank Mr. Wright enough for all he did to shape me during my high school years.  Not only did he physically catch me to keep me from hitting my head on the trash can while passing out after giving blood, but he also provided numerous memories and a great working knowledge of the government.  He taught us so much in mock trials (including preparing adequately as a witness so that you don't get humiliated when you don't actually remember that the house you're testifying about is a split-level one so the crime couldn't have happened the way you thought it did) to why you shouldn't memorize your decathlon speech on the way to the competition. Bob, the bus driver, as he called himself on one of these trips truly instills a love of learning into students and imparts his knowledge in a way that keeps them coming back for more.

I have had so many other amazing teachers along the way, including English teachers like Mrs. Anderson, Mrs. Davis, and Mrs. Martin (whose paddling stories were legendary and I was glad to never experience).  History was shaped by people like Coach Peters whose sound of jingling change and Certs were the stuff of stories for years.  To this day, the majority of my history knowledge came from my two years with him.  I loved my high school Physics teacher who told me on the last day of school that I'd actually had an answer book all along and Coach T, who spent countless hours of his lunch detention time tutoring us in Algebra II, and because of him I still know the quadratic formula and the value of very hard work. 

These are just a few of the amazing teachers that I was lucky to have and I am so grateful to them and just hope that someday I can be just a little bit like them for my students.

Jubilee

The Liberty Jubilee has been a staple in our lives for more years than I can remember. Each spring the town square is taken over by craft booths, barbecue pits, and classic carnival food.  Last year was Jemma's first adventure to the big event and she liked it a lot but this year she thought it was SO fun!  She loved the carousel ride and really wanted to ride the lion but when some other little girl took it, she reluctantly rode the buffalo while giving the other child the stink eye the whole time :)

 Ellory and Pop watched from some nearby shade.

 She was also a big fan of lemonade, corn dogs, and funnel cake (yes, there's no doubt that she is my child) but the biggest fun of the day was her two pony rides.  You could also ride a camel and she was having no part of that (though she told me for a few days afterwards that she had, in fact, ridden the camel).

See you next year, pony friends!

Easter Time

 We celebrated Easter with these two cuties a few weeks ago.  A few weeks before Easter we went to Liberty for the Jubilee and got to take a few bluebonnet pics.  I'll have to have a whole separate post of the outtakes from that trip.  How do people with more than 2 kids ever get a photo of them all looking the same way because I couldn't even make it work with two!  These outfits were precious and they had a great time at the Jubilee.  I mean, what is not to love about a day with ponies, funnel cake, and a carousel?  I'll post separately about that too.

 On Easter, we went to church and then went to my parents' house for tons of food and fun with the family.  A certain 2 year old was not in the mood for pictures so we took what we could get!

 Ethan (my nephew) and Jemma got a special welcome sign when they went to Momo and Pop's. 

 And this cutie was all smiles for some sweet pictures!

We hope that you and your family had a great holiday as well!

5 Months Old

Where has this month gone?  Sweet Ellory turned 5 months old on the 2nd of this month and I'm just now getting around to posting pictures. She is still in 3-6 month clothes, eats 6 ounces of food every 3-4 hours during the day, and started sleeping in her crib this week (I just couldn't let her go out of the basinette in our room any earlier).  She still loves to be swaddled and is a good sleeper at night.  She also sat up for the first time last Friday.  I sat her down just to try and she sat right up and smiled at me.  She's getting to be so big! She is a sweet, happy baby and we love her so much!

Bee-utiful Shower

Last week I got to host a shower for a sweet friend at work. She and I came to our school the same year and have served on the same team the majority of the time (minus my counseling years). She is having a baby boy in a few short weeks so I hosted a "Bee is for Baby Boy" shower.

The invitations had a cute honeycomb in the back and the same cute bee graphic that I used on the other stuff (I can't blur out her full name on the photo so I decided not to add the pic).











Pretend like the next picture isn't upside down...I don't know how to flip it on blogpress. I assure you that she'll hang them right side up.



We can't wait to meet her precious little boy!

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

4 Months Old and Sisterly Love

Sweet Ellory turned four months old a few weeks ago and is just growing right before our eyes.  Tae took her for her 4 month check-up on Friday and she was 12.5 pounds (she had gone from the 5th percentile to the 32nd so they weighed her twice to make sure there hadn't been a mistake).  She is starting to make the switch into 3-6 month clothes and size 2 diapers.  She has started to sit in the bumbo more and she tried out the jumperoo for the first time on Saturday (she might have fallen asleep in there 5 minutes later).  She also rolled over for the first time without us. . . .

I was "practicing" with her when Tae came home from the store last weekend and then he took her upstairs to play while I graded some papers.  She was on the playmat upstairs and Tae ran down for literally maybe 15 seconds to grab her pacifier and when he got back up there she had rolled over on her own!!  What a little stinker!  She apparently didn't want an audience! :)  She "talks" to us all the time, making sweet coo noises and more actual laughing noises.  She is starting to outgrow our swaddling blankets so it's about time to switch into the "swaddle me" blankets.  She is so, so cute!

Jemma adores Ellory and tells me all the time how much she loves her and always wants to give her hugs and kisses.  So sweet!

And here are Jemma and I before going to a birthday party on Saturday.  Jemma is hilarious right now, always talking up a storm, and is often her own running commentary. . ."Okay guys, let's sing wheels on the bus. . the wheels on the bus go . . .", often singing the ABCs, Five Little Monkeys, Brown Bear, and other songs to herself or anyone who will listen.  She is so smart and sweet!

Parent Commitment Service

A few weeks ago we participated in our church's parent commitment service, which serves as an opportunity for friends and family to commit to pray for you as parents and for your child's faith.  It was a sweet service, just as Jemma's was.  Thank you so much for all of you who came to support us! We love you!