Mr. Majestic

So I have a fellow teacher friend who teaches first grade and hatched chickens with her class last year. She ended up keeping one hen and one rooster. This friend lives a few houses down from me, right smack in the middle of the city. Now we all know that roosters crow. Roosters that crow in the city aren't really appreciated by their owners or their neighbors. About a month ago, this friend and I were standing out at Recess Duty talking about these chickens. She was telling me that she needed to get rid of the rooster and I kind of laughed about taking him home to my dadio's house in the country when I came home for Christmas. She laughed. I laughed. Oh, the thought of driving a chicken all the way from GA to AR. Hah! About a week ago, she asked me if I really could take him home. I told my dad and he was instantly excited. He even gave the rooster a new name...Mr. Majestic. So, last Saturday I brought Mr. Majestic home. In a box. In my car. Crowing. The. whole. time. I also had our two guinea pigs, a car full of luggage and Seth's brother. I prayed the entire way I wouldn't get pulled over and end up on Cops. We made it just fine and when Mr. Majestic quits beating up on the other roosters, he will fit right in.

In the Rock

Ya'll are going to take away my blogging privileges. I have been terrible lately! I made it to Little Rock on Saturday (with a chicken and two guinea pigs in the back-don't worry... that is its own post right there!) So far, I have been really enjoying my time with family. I sat down this morning to FINALLY post pictures of my tree and stuff back in the ATL and guess what. Did you guess that I left my camera cord at home? If you did... you would be correct. Sorry about that. I'm a little sick because I had such big plans on taking a bunch of pictures with family and friends and posting them. I will still take picutres, I'll just have to post them when I get back in two weeks.

Enjoy your day! I'm off to brave the Mall with my momma.

Until Tomorrow...

I'm a huge slacker. I realize I haven't posted pictures of my tree yet. Sorry.

Right now, I have to wrap Christmas Presents to my class and figure out what to wear for crazy-dress-day tomorrow. Ahhh decisions.

The pictures will have to wait one more night...

Frosty the Snowman

Hey guys! Sorry about the Frosty title, but Frosty the Snowman has been in my head all day. I taught it to my kids at school this morning (can you believe a lot of them had never heard of it?) and they just loved it! I have to say that there is something about 20 little first graders singing their little hearts out to Frosty the Snowman that makes me smile.
All day I have been excited to take pictures of our cute little tree, my pretty wreath, and the other Christmas decorations for you... but...my camera is in my desk at school. Blah. I'll get it tomorrow and take some. Until then, here are some things on my mind.
-I love this cold weather.
-I'm so ready for Christmas Break.
-Only 6 school days left until I'm free for 2 weeks.
-I haven't purchased one single Christmas Present yet. Don't judge me.
-My favorite thing in the world might be having the lights on the tree turned on. It's the first thing I do when I get up in the morning.
-I think I may have finally found a pair of black boots. I'm vertically challenged if you will, and have searched for 3 years for a pair of boots. The proportions are just all off on me. I  I found some online that look promising and they should be here tomorrow!
Well, I'm off to do lesson plans and my newsletter for next week so I can relax on Sunday.Enjoy your night.:)

What more could a girl ask for?

 

These are a few of my favorite things. And Seth made sure I had them ALL on my birthday. :)

I'm Alive

Hey! I really should be in bed right now but since it has almost been a week since I've posted, I figure I better put something on here.
-Today we took 100 first graders to Stone Mountain. We had a wonderful time and nobody fell off the mountain or anything. That's always a good thing.
-Today is my birthday and I have the sweetest husband ever. Ever. I'll say it again. Ever. I'm so lucky to have him in my life. :)I don't mean to get mushy on you but I'm thankful for him.
-We made tacos tonight and had people over. He made me a gluten free chocolate cake with chocolate icing. He got me Home Alone -which is one of my favorite movies of all time-and Miss. Dior Cherie perfume.
-Sorry that was boring.
-Thank you Lord for Friday.
-Ready for a weekend. Really ready.
-Okay, I really am tired. Somehow it is 11:46 and way past my bedtime. Goodnight!

Black Friday...so what

Hey guys! We are having a nice time in NY. We have watched a ton of movies and done a lot of coffee drinking and relaxing... my kind of Holiday for sure. They are expecting some snow later this afternoon so that will be a nice change from the ATL.

I've never ever in my whole life gone shopping on "black Friday." As I type that, I realize that's kinda a weird thing I guess. We have always taken the Friday after to relax from all the turkey and pie. Then of course, "The Battle of the Boot." (That's the AR/LSU Game for all you non- Hog fans.) The game is on Saturday this year so that leaves more relaxing and coffee today. Whatever you end up doing, have a wonderful day!

Blogging on a Plane

As  you can see by the title, I am blogging on a plane. Can't say I've ever done that before. Seth says I should call it "plogging" for plane blogging. Maybe it will catch on. Then again, maybe not.

We are on our way to Detroit to catch a plane to NY to spend Thanksgiving with his family. Cody and Will will be there as well so all of the Borin Boys will be around. Who knows what kind of crazy things might happen.

I really wanted to tell you guys about my day yesterday but I was so busy packing and cleaning I didn't have the chance. I had to steal the computer from Seth -on the plane- so I could tell you. Yesterday was such a wonderful day before Thanksgiving break with 6 kids absent until I broke up an underground fighting ring of girls in my classroom. Yes you heard me right. An underground fighting ring of girls. In the first grade. In my class. Over a boy. Not even a cute boy. WHAT IN THE WORLD? Apparently at lunch two girls decided they were going to "jump" each other because they both liked the same boy. (In the first grade. Really?) It ended with 10 girls in my class throwing wood chips, pushing, name calling, cussing, and crying. One girl got put in a head lock and left with a scratch on her neck. 3 girls were found not guilty of the charges but not before crying a massive amount of tears. It appears they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Every one of the girls cried like crazy. I'm sure it looked wild-standing in the hallway with 7 sobbing girls because they were busted for fighting. In the first grade. I called all of their momma's and documented the scratch and could not believe it. They are in the first grade. Wow.

I don't know if I will have a chance to get on here tomorrow, so Happy Thanksgiving! No fighting!

I can't think of a cool title. Sorry!

Hey guys!

So on Thursday, I finally got to tell you about the vouchers and helping out N's family. On Friday, Seth and a friend from church (Matt) delivered all of the beds. It worked out so well because Matt got the number of a neighbor over there who is in need of some clothes and things like that for her kids. He hasn't used his voucher yet so it is kinda neat that it worked out where he could go with Seth.

After I got off work, we went back over there to drop off the sheets and blankets. Those kids swarmed us at the door and- after we peeled them off of us- helped us carry in all of the bags. I will never forget as long as I live those little girls ripping into the bags and helping us put on the sheets. :) Mom was so excited about her new bed as well- no more air mattress for her! It was such a wonderful day. We had money left over to go to Kroger and buy a turkey, rolls, cranberry sauce, green beans, corn, and cornbread stuffing so they can have a Thanksgiving dinner. I tell you what, God is good!

On a different note. 1 day until Thanksgiving Break. Can I make it? I don't really have a choice but those kids are acting crazy. I just stopped and looked at them for a minute today and just wanted to say, "Who are you crazy kids and what have you done with my class?" Oh, the path I have chosen.

Thursday Thankfulness

Meet Max.

Max is the laziest little dog alive. He's pretty cute though.

Alright. I have a lot of updates.

1. Seth passed his Comp! Whoohoo! This means he is still on track for his PhD. Good work Seth! :)

2. I have hinted about a situation for a month or so now but haven't really been sure how much I can share. It is about a student and I'm still not sure of that line. Oh Well!

You have heard me talk about this little girl. I'll call her "N". N's mom is a single parent and has seven kids and another one on the way. I'll just be really honest and admit that N has caused me a lot of frustration in the classroom this year. She has tested my patience many many times. At the same time, my heart has ached for her. For now, things are under control and she is tying very hard to "make good choices" as I say ALL DAY LONG. Seriously though, as long as she is given her AD/HD and Bi-polar medication daily we are all good.

You might remember that I called a meeting with the principal, counselor and her mom to discuss some of these things. In this meeting, I came to find out that this family is barely making it. Mom doesn't have a job, she has all of these kids, no car, the kids don't have coats or uniforms or beds. Think about that- no beds. How often do we take the small things for granted? Come on- I didn't even give my bed a second thought until now. Anyway. Seth and I thought about this family  a lot after I learned that. A whole lot. I couldn't really get them out of my head. I talked about that on here- where is the line as a teacher? What can you do? Is buying a pack of underwear at Target every few months enough? I still don't know the answers to these questions but I know that God is good. I know that he has opened my eyes in ways I never thought possible.

Long story short, our church received a large donation of money. The church decided to divide the money out into the congregation and have them go out into their communities and help those in need. On the day we found out about this, Seth and I just looked at each other and smiled.

Longer story shorter, I took her mom out to eat and told her that I had a way to help her family. She started crying then I started crying and it was a wonderful feeling. In talking with her, I learned that some of the kids had a mattress (no frame) with fluff coming out. A few of the other kids just use blankets and clothes on the floor. With this money, we have purchased six twin bed frames, mattresses, and box springs (one for each child) and will get a crib this weekend. Mom sleeps on an air mattress (and is 5 months pregnant) so we purchased her a queen bed frame, mattress and box springs  as well. We went to Target and got brand new sheets, comforters and pillows to deck out their new beds.

Tomorrow, we (well, Seth.. I have to work) is going to deliver all of the beds. When I get off work, I'm going to go over and put all the new fun threads on the bed. :)

Thinking about N snuggling down in a warm, clean bed tomorrow night makes my heart smile.

The Weekly Rundown

I have had a couple of things swirling around in my mind to blog about lately. Right now though I don't really feel like it. So, I'll leave you with a list of things that are going on right now in our lives.

-Yesterday, I made gluten free muffins and am pleasantly surprised. They have a pound cakey texture and were pretty easy. I put them in the freezer and now have breakfast handy for the next 24 (okay. I ate two after I made them. 22 days.) Yess!

-We are watching a friend's dog for a while. We got him tonight and -first things first-gave him a bath. He's all snuggled up to me smelling like Baby Shampoo. Hey, use what ya have, right?

-I survived Parent/Teacher Conferences. For some reason I was really nervous that morning. As soon as the first conference got going I realized that the parents don't actually know that sometimes I feel like I don't have it all together. Might as well act like I do, right?

-Today was a Teacher Workday at school. That's code for : No KIDS: Praise the Lord! Most of the time the speakers are a little dull and my mind races thinking about all of the things I could be doing in my class. Surprisingly, not today. I can't tell you how much I needed this woman to come into my life. The class was on Reading Learning Disabilities in the Classroom. The teacher was this fun, caring southern woman who reminded me so much of my teachers -especially Donna- back at the U of A. It was so evident that this woman loved teaching and I really needed to see that. I have been bogged down a little lately. Feeling a little overwhelmed with the current teaching situation. Today, I remembered why I want to do it! She actually thanked us for being teachers-even though she is one also. She said that teachers are teachers because they are called to do it. She also said that when you are called to do something like teaching, you will dig deep down and find a way to do it. She said that even when you feel like you don't know what to do, when you are called to do something you will do what you need to do. I REALLY needed to hear that.

-I am so ready for Thanksgiving Break. We are heading to NY to spend some time with Seth's family. Cody and Will are going to be able to come to, so all the Borin boys (plus me) will be together. Fun times!

-Keep your fingers crossed tomorrow as we find out which road we will be lead to next. 

Sorry that was a lot of rambling. I promise that I do have some touching things to write about soon. I want to wait until a few things are finalized so I can tell the entire story. Let me just leave you hanging by saying that God has done some amazing things in my life the past month. He has opened my eyes to a lot of things and I think I am a better person because of this experience in my life.

Pumpkin Roll and Razorbacks

Wow. I'm bad at this blog sometimes. Sorry it has almost been a week since I updated. Two words are to blame for that: Report. Cards. Groan. Yuck. Gag. Ugh.
Yeah, that pretty much sums up how I feel about Report Cards. But there is no sense in ruining a perfectly good post talking about that.
 
Today has been such a nice day. I woke up and straightened up the house and drank coffee with Seth. We watched the Hogs beat South Carolina and had a nice day. I'm almost caught up on laundry and have a pumpkin roll in the fridge that is finally ready and calling our name. We are off to have a slice and hit the hay. Don't judge.

Until tomorrow...

Well, I have been a slacker today. I didn't get the pictures up last night obviously. I'll try tomorrow... I know you are on the edge of your seats with anticipation of my clean closet. Ha! Our Halloween was uneventful but turned out to be a pretty fun time. I made Paula Deen's shirmp and wild rice casserole (YUM! I will post the recipe later) and curled up on the couch to watch Scream 3.

Today, we and I gave blood at the Church Blood Drive. It went fine but made us both feel kinda woozy for the afternoon so we have been pretty lazy. Apparently I did get pretty pale and for some reason my bag stopped flowing and they had to stop it early . Dang it. A big ole' needle stick and only half a bag of blood that will probably just be thrown out. Grrr. Anyway. I just finished all my junk for the week and am about to hit the hay. Goodnight!

Happy Halloween and a Closet that is Clean!

I have been working on a lot of little projects around the house. First, since the weather is getting cooler I decided I better get out the winter clothes and put up the summer clothes. In the process of this, I realized that we have about a gazillon things that need to go to Goodwill so I started doing that. This made me clean out my closet which led me to organizing it which sent me on a cleaning spree! I finally tackled our guest room which *blushing* has been hidden by a pile of boxes since we moved in. Don't judge! I love it when the house is clean and organized but life has this way of getting in the way. I have to run to Kroger right now but I will post my before and after pictures when I get home. I hope you are enjoying your Halloween.

Also, I need to send a shout out to Sarah on her 26th Birthday! Happy Birthday, babe. I love you! Sorry I can't be there to help you celebrate.

We have about 4,000 pictures at El Porton.

Riverfest.

 

My Bridal Luncheon.

O For Grace to Trust Him More.

Hey guys! Sorry I have let almost a week go by without a post. I kept thinking I would make some cookies or something and take a picture to post and write about. Here we are-Thursday night- no cookies and just now posting. Oh. Well. The husband has a late meeting tonight so I am trying to get some things done for work. I figure if I try to do them now I can relax this weekend. Sometimes I feel like I spend my whole weekend worrying about all I have to do on Sunday. You know, newsletters, lesson plans, centers, grading the never ending pile of paperwork and dreading checking my school email.

I do have to say that the Lord has opened some major windows for me lately. The song Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus has been going on and on in my head for the past week and it is amazing to believe that song! There have been a few things on my heart that I have really been thinking/praying about. I have been praying and trying hard not to worry (hard for me to do sometimes). Sometimes -okay-most times I struggle with trusting God fully. With so much uncertainty in our future it is hard to pray the "give me wisdom to know what to do" prayer. I shouldn't be so surprised that things have worked out, but I kind of am. It is amazing the opportunities he has presented me with. I will talk more about it when I know more details. Happy Thursday night!

Oh! In honor of the AR/ Ole Miss Game on Saturday, I will leave you with a Razorback picture.

This was taken on the ESPN Gameday a few years ago. Go Hogs!

Out of the mouths of babes.

I heard two hilarious comments from kids at school today and I need to share them.  During lunch, I noticed that two little girls (who usually don't really hang out) were sitting by each other and eating exactly the same thing on their lunch trays. They would say, "Okay, let's eat this next" and would both take a bit of pineapple. "Okay. Now eat a bite of your roll" and eat their roll. Out of the blue, "M" looks at me and says, " I really think me and "V" are falling in love."  "Excuse me?" I say as I choke on my water. Then she said it again... "Yeah, I really think we are falling in love." I asked what she meant and she said, "Well, we don't ever play together but we are going to today and we are eating the same thing and I really like her."  It was all I could do not to laugh as I tried to convince her they were becoming good friends... not falling in love.

Fast forward to carpool. I don't need to explain to you how crazy afternoon carpool can be. I am a "runner" which means I walk kids from the sidewalk to their cars. At 3:45, I go back in my building to see "V" (yep. same girl as earlier) still there. She is the cutest child I have ever seen. She is Hispanic and has this long dark hair and she doesn't even come up to my knee probably. Anyway, she and her sister are usually gone by now but are sitting by the door. I asked her who was coming to pick her up and she said her dad was coming. I'm scratching my head because her dad lives in Mexico and according mom, "Can't come over because he doesn't have a passport" but they are still married. I said, "You mean your dad is here from Mexico?" She looks at me kind of funny and says, "Nope. Momma got tired of him and married somebody else."

I'll tell you what. This job is a whole bunch of things but it is NEVER boring! Happy Weekend!

"On a role in here in Little Rock"

I made it to the Rock about 5:30 today. I was a little bummed that I couldn't watch the AR/Auburn game BUT I happened to be driving through AL during the first quarter. I was able to get the game and hear the Auburn announcers wondering how we were playing like that. I believe their exact phrase was, "Well. Their offense is pretty much running through us like swiss cheese." Man it was great. You don't really ever get to hear "the other side" talking when your team is dominating.I laughed even harder with a minute left until half-time when they said, "Auburn is just trying to make it to half so they re-group and get themselves together." HAHAHA. Woo Pig Sooie!

Anyway. When I got to my momma's house Kelsey was watching the kids. The cutest kids in the whole world, I might add. Now it is 9:26 (10:26 my time and I'm thinking I will hit the hay). Goodnight!

Tuesday Tales

I wish I had something really cool and amazing to post today, but I really don't. I am pretty much the laziest person alive right now. Kicked back on my couch watching Rehab, eating a rice cake, seriously wanting a Diet Dr. Pepper. Some of you know about a situation I am facing at school with a child. A child who has a lot going on right now, including eight siblings with one on the way. The principal, counselor and I met with mom today and it went really well! I feel so sad for this family and all they are going through. I literally choked back tears. I'm kinda having a hard time deciding what I can do/should do as a teacher to help them. I know I can't solve all of their problems, but it sure is hard to sit back and watch. As a teacher, you are put it such a hard place sometimes. There is only so much you can do... it is not up to you to raise them. I'll tell you what though... as much as these kids drive me up the wall sometimes, I sure have gotten attached to them. Sorry that got a little heavy for a Tuesday night. Forgive me as I go back to my trashy T.V. ...

Go Hogs!

Well, I don't know about you but I have had a such a great Saturday! I slept until 9:30 which has been completely unheard of lately. I straightened up the house, got a lot of work done for school, watched Three Men and a Baby, squeezed in a nap and watched the Razorback Game. Today was day 1 of me trying out the "gluten free thing." Basically, I am going to try and cut out gluten for a week to see if that changes anything. I will know for sure October 22, but figured I would go ahead and try this. We made some gluten free brownies which were actually really really good! Okay, 30 seconds left on the game and then it's time for me to hit the hay. Goodnight and Go Hogs!

Have you ever been right in the middle of cleaning your messy house when someone you don't know comes over to see your house? Or in our case, down to see my house? It happened to me tonight. The lady who is moving into the top level of the house came down to check out our place. I had been finding any way I could to keep from getting my grading done (as always). I cleaned the guinea pig cage spotless and was right in the middle of laundry. You know the drill with laundry. A pile of colored clothes on the floor. A pile of white clothes next to it and then a big ole pile of towels on the floor. Folded clothes on the bed just waiting for me to put them up.  If it wasn't bad enough to step over three piles of dirty clothes, I hadn't cleaned up the kitchen from dinner yet so it looked kinda messy. No lets throw in the counter top full of clean dishes waiting to be put up from last night (I promise I'm not a slob. Just a little lazy sometimes. I teach 6 year olds... leave me alone.) It probably doesn't really matter but I am a little embarrassed. I'm proud of this place and like showing it's clean self off to people. It just wasn't really the first impression I wanted to make with the new neighbor. Oh well. What can you do?

On a different note... tomorrow is FRIDAY! And what about this weather? It has been so beautiful and fallish. It looks like a pretty fun weekend is shaping up. Dinner with some of our friends from church tomorrow night and the Razorback game Saturday night. At school, we have a Field Trip coming up Thursday and then a Fall Break the next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. YESSSSS. It looks like the AR State Fair is going on during that week. You know what that means, don't you? It means I will have to round up the siblings, my dadio, and Grandpa Bud and catch me a Fair.

Poppyseed Chicken and Guinea Pigs

I don't want to brag... but the poppyseed chicken I took to the Nursing Home last night was devoured. They practically licked the Pyrex dish clean. A few people from our class even begged me for the recipe. This makes me smile because it is truly the easiest thing you could ever try to cook. :)

I don't really have a lot to talk about right now so I will keep you happy with pictures.
If you know me in real life, you know that we have two little ridiculous guinea pigs. I got them in theory for my class at school but they somehow they have become part of our family. I know. I know. They really are pretty cute and they make funny noises and go absolutely crazy when you feed them. Yeah, I'm afraid we have gotten pretty dang attached to these little things. Or, Delta Dawn and Miss. Mona as they are known as around here. 

 Here they are the day we got them. Tiny, scared, funny little things.

Here they are doing a trick for the husband. Yes, they kinda do tricks.

They go wild for lettuce.

Here are the crazy things today. I should be grading about a zillion papers but it is much more fun to fool with the blog background and take pictures of the guinea pigs. Don't you think?

Ahhh Sunday

Sorry I haven't written on here in a while. The week was long and the weekend has been great. We had a Razorback Throwdown yesterday during the game. What does that mean? We found the 5 Razorback Fans we know in Atlanta and had them over. Even though we lost  it was still a pretty fun time. We have a neat setup to have people over in this new house so it was fun to entertain AR folks. I've got to go finish up my poppyseed chicken for the potluck at the Nursing Home tonight so I've got to run. Enjoy your Sunday and I'll be back soon.

Do you need a good laugh?

Since we don't have school tomorrow due to the severe flooding that has hit the ATL, I thought I would be a good girl and grade some papers. Imagine my surprise when I came across this:

Let me explain...fast! One of our afternoon work stations is the ABC Center. At this station you grab a dictionary and find a word that starts with our "letter of the day." You have to write the word, come up with a sentence, and draw a picture. It looks like this kiddo found the word "hay". Good. Wrote the sentence, "Hay give it back." Okay, nice try. Copied the picture of the silo from the dictionary and added a special phrase. Wow! Do I need to tell you how hard my good man and I laughed tonight??

Anyway. Maybe this gave you a good laugh tonight. I am really glad to have day off tomorrow but there are a lot of people in a bad situation with all of the rain. Keep them in your thoughts. Good night!

Eight Years Ago.

Eight years ago today something kind of funny happened. You see, there was an 11th grader who played football and liked to dye his hair. Then there was his cousins best friend who happened to be a senior. After one sneaky lunch date to Popeyes, a movie date to see Zoolander and countless late night conversations on IM, these two crazy kids decided that they were "going out." That phrase makes me smile now... just like it did eight years ago. My good man and I have been through a lot together in eight years. We have had some really great times and some really petty arguments. I know that I am a better person because of him. I know that he has pushed me to want to do great things. I know that after eight years of being with my best friend... I wouldn't change one thing. Okay. Maybe I would change the whole living 600 miles away for a whole year but no need to think about that. :)

Here are a few pictures of us over the years. Enjoy!

Fly fishing in Crested Butte, CO. 

 

Cheering on the Hogs!

 

The big smooch.

 

Honeymoonin' in Jamaica.

Can you do me a favor??

Alright people. I need some followers on this blog. I know I have a few people who read it (thanks Dad!) and I need you to "Follow it." Look on the right side of the blog-scroll down a little bit to a gray box that says FOLLOW. Click that button. Now follow the directions to follow it. Pretty please??? Hope you are enjoying your weekend! :)

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Today was my third day of having a lot of kids absent. I joked around on my last post about it, but I really do hate that they are sick. I have to be honest though... it has been WONDERFUL only having 14 or 15 kids.  Yesterday would have been/ was (not sure how you word that) G.W.'s birthday which made me a little bit sad. I talked to his daughter for about an hour last night and felt a lot better. I think talking with me made her feel  a little better too... at least she said it did.

As promised, here are the after pictures of my classroom. It is a work in progress, but I feel like it is finally starting to come together.

 

The coconuts have names on them.

 

The beach scene that keeps me sane. 

 

25 days of school and I just now got started organizing the books. I have a long way to go, but am pretty pleased so far. 

Okay, enough of that. The husband is at the GA Tech game so here I am watching Friends/grading papers/wishing I had a Diet Dr. Pepper. I really can't wait for the weekend! I don't really even have any huge plans. I think we might have a date night tomorrow night which will be fun. There are a lot of fun restaurants around here that we need to try out. :)

Just a friendly letter...

Dear six kids who were sick and absent from class today:

I'm sorry you guys are sick. I know it is not fun to have fever and a cough and stomach trouble. Feel better soon and come back when you are well. That means feeling good and fever free-with no medicine-for 24 hours. You got that? 24 hours. Maybe even 48-just to make sure. We sure wouldn't want you to feel bad at school. And we sure sure wouldn't want you to pass around your sickness. And we sure sure sure wouldn't want you to get your dear teacher sick, now would we? Go ahead and stay home for the whole week. You know, for your health. Definitely not because only having 14 kids today made me the happiest person in maybe the whole wide world.

Who Rocks the House?

Happy Labor Day! As I sat here this morning, drinking my coffee, watching TruTV and sort of working on laundry, I realized that I haven't put any pictures of the house on here.  Drum roll please...

 

 This is a picture of our deck. It's awesome- a swing, a grill and if you close your eyes you can kid yourself into thinking you're in the country. Kind of.

  

 This is our door and our fun green "Welcome Mat." 

    This is my bathroom. First door on the right as soon as you walk in the door.

Down the hall to the Master Bedroom.

 

Seth's bathroom. 

The right side of our bedroom. The left side is boring because I haven't really done much with it yet. So, you don't get to see it yet.

The left side of the Living Room. I haven't put up new curtains yet, but will hopefully be getting to that soon. The light fixtures will also be changed eventually. 

The right side of the Living Room.

Looking down the hall at the door. Laundry "closet" is on the left. 

So there you have it. A few pictures of the house. You still haven't seen the kitchen, guest bedroom, office, or dungeon. As soon as I get them cleaned and have a chance to take a picture, I'll put them on here. Enjoy!

This picture has nothing to do with the house but I came across it today and it made me smile. :)

Flamingos and Razorbacks

So, yesterday I get to school and get ready to take a picture of my beautiful classroom to show you beautiful people and couldn't find my camera. Where in the world could it be? I looked and looked and looked and even kind of wondered if it had been stolen out of my desk or something. I got home and found the camera right there on the coffee table where I uploaded pictures the night before. Grrr. You wont find any "after" pictures today, but here is a picture of me to keep you happy.

You know I had to get a picture with the flamingos at the zoo a few weekends ago.

Here I sit spending my Saturday blogging, watching Bedknobs and Broomsticks (of course drinking a Diet Dr. Pepper) and wishing I could go to the game tonight. Little Rock games are always so fun! Go Hogs!

Two Good Days in a Row!

I have finally had two good days at school in a row. Whoo Hoo! I have gone back to even more basic basics. I'm talking "Lets think about how we are supposed to sit on the carpet" and "What it means to use inside voices." Things we should know. W.R.O.N.G.Things we should not have to spend a huge amount of time on. Anyway. The past two days have been *fun* and that is a WONDERFUL change. I got my camera cord in the mail yesterday and so now I will grace you with the before pictures.

 

A big ole' mess.

The "before view" from the door.

 

The super cute signs Kelsey made me.

 

The Reading Center.

Tomorrow I will post the "after pictures." Meaning-what it looks like now. I am pretty happy with the way it has turned out. Enjoy your night!

Come on Labor Day!

I'm not really sure what to write about today. I  just wanted to pop in and let you know that I'm alive. I have a million things swirling around in my head that I need to do for the rest of the week that I could bore you with. Like Progress Reports. Please tell me why in the world we have to send Progress Reports home when I have only known these kids for 19 days. Ugh.

I'm going to finish watching Seinfield, grab a Diet Dr. Pepper and work on these stupid things. Wish me luck as I pretend that I have done all of my assessments and am able to give an "accurate representation of their current academic level." Blah.

I get it: I'm getting old.

My Dadio has been telling me this for years. Take the time back in 9th grade when I had knee surgery:"You're getting old." Take the nights I complain about not being able to fall asleep: "You're getting old." Take the days I come home completely exhausted from putting up with kids and can barely keep my eyes open by 9:30: "You're getting old." What do you think he is going to say when I call him later today and tell him that this morning (on my Saturday!) I was wide awake at 7:15? You guessed it. I get it dad. I'm getting old.

Working for the Weekend...

I am so stinking excited about tomorrow at 3:45. Why you ask? F-r-e-e-d-o-m. Freedom from first graders and their parents. Freedom from SAT 10 tests and whining and crying and "Mrs. Borin's." Saturday, I will be getting my "fall shorter haircut" a little early. I finally found a hair stylist I love and he is up and moving to Colorado and I had to get in before he leaves. Saturday is also some soap box derby thing(?) that Seth is really excited about and ShadeFest in Grant Park. I just remembered we are going to a couple's house from church that night too. Looks like it will be a busy weekend. I'm ready for a little relaxin' though. Just realized I have chocolate muffin cupcake things in the oven (for my class tomorrow)that I need to check. Happy day before the weekend!

I love Sunday!

There are probably about a million things I should be doing... but I am perfectly happy sitting here on the couch, drinking a Diet Dr. Pepper, watching Most Shocking: High Speed Chases on Tru Tv. Yep. Life is good.

Tonight our Life Group is having a devo and Potluck at a local Nursing Home. I am pretty excited about this for some reason. Seth and I have been trying to get this group to Potluck it for a while but these city folk aren't Potluck fans. Tonight though, after a year of going to this church, we will have our first Potluck. Naturally, I called Nana and got her chicken salad recipe. Can't wait!

I'm Way Behind Again

So, I'm way behind on this again. Sorry about that. Once again, I'm way behind on calling people back... some of you are probably still waiting on your call. You will get it eventually.

As I always say on here, I LOVE my team of teachers. I would not have made it through these first 12 days of school without them. I also LOVE my new principal and would not have made it through without her. I know this sounds pathetic but knowing that someone has your back does wonders for you in the situation I am in. I keep trying to remind myself that this is NOT a normal situation and it is NOT one I want to be in forever. Some people have had a good way of phrasing it- practice for when I have a "real job."

I'm still enjoying our new house. Even though it needs a good cleaning... which I will do tonight... it is so great to be out of the apartment. It is great to have all of this room that we didn't have before. I love the back porch and the swing. I love the flower pots and plants we've got out there and I love the grill. Last week, our landlord offered us the upstairs part of the house at a reduced rate. Now, the upstairs is beau.ti.ful. Remember that the whole house was built in 1909 and the top part is so antique looking and fun. Seth and I both really liked it but it was out of our price range. And now... three months later... we could make it happen. It really only took about 2 minutes of talking about it to realize we wanted to stay on the bottom. Aside from the fact that thinking about lugging all of our stuff back up the mountain driveway into the top makes me sick, and that the utilities will be crazy high up there due to the tall windows, and the fact that we both have zero time to be moving again right now, we actually like it down here. We are finally getting settled in.

On a weird note, I woke up today completely ready for the fall. I can't wait for cooler weather and pumpkins and good smellin' candles. I'm also ready to go to a Fair. Every year this happens to me. I want to go to the Fair so bad and I get there and instantly remember that I always say I don't ever want to go back. All the same, something about eating all kinds of really good but really bad for you food and watching the Rodeo in ol'e Barton has pretty good memories for me. It makes me think of my dad and my siblings and cousins and Grandpa Bud. I do have a Fall Break this year and it happens to fall during the Arkansas State Fair time, so I just might have to see about it...

Oh Yeah. I have a blog.

I have been a terrible blogger for the past two weeks. I have also been a terrible wife, friend, daughter and sister. I will call you people back soon. Promise. I have survived the first week of school somehow. I have survived the one thousand and eighty five "Mrs. Borin's" I hear everyday and a few not so lovely parents. I think this year is going to be okay. Actually, I know it will be okay. A walk in the park? Probably not. I will say that I really do love the principal and I work with some really amazing people. I seem to have a good group of kids too. There are definitely a few challenges that I am facing but I have good resources.

I'll be honest in that I have been a little down lately. You can ask poor Seth... I have been Out. Of. It. I have been thinking about G.W. a lot.. and dreaming of him too. The strange thing is, he talks to me in these dreams and it makes me kind of a wreck in the mornings. I talked to Mona (his daughter) for a long time yesterday and it felt really nice. I feel like she and I have become close through all of this and talking with her kind of helped pull me out of this "funk." I think between grief and starting back to school less than 6 hours after getting back to Atlanta and challenges at school I am just feel like my mind is being pulled in too many directions. Tomorrow is Friday though which means that Saturday is around the corner. Do I have big plans? I get to sleep in!! I don't care if I can only sleep until 7 ( which will probably be what happens). I'll take it! Goodnight and Happy Friday tomorrow!

School Days

So, yesterday was my first day of teaching 1st grade. What a C-R-A-Z-Y day! I was not really on top of my game, to be honest. I guess I was still on summer vacation too. I went in today ready to lay down the law and be a little bit stricter and today was MUCH better. :) I have some really sweet kiddos, I think. I have boys and girls which is a lot different than all boys last year. I am exhausted and about to eat dinner but I just wanted to let everyone know that today went well. It was actually pretty fun! I am waiting on my camera cord to arrive from LR and I will post a bunch of pictures. Happy Weekend!

Good News!

My momma found my camera cord in the couch cushion! I have looked high and low for that thing. Evidently, I left it in LR a few weeks ago. She is going to send it to me tomorrow so I can post some pictures on here soon. I have a ton of pictures of my classroom that I want ya'll to see. So everyone knows... I am teaching 1st grade in a co-ed class this year! I am pretty excited about it. The room is looking good and my team is amazing. Absolutely amazing. I have a feeling this year is going to be so much better in so many ways than last year. School starts Thursday so wish me luck.

Updates

Sorry I haven't updated on here in a while. Since I started back to work, I have been pretty busy working up at school and going to bed early. My room is looking really good. I have used a beach theme and have all kinds of fun decorations in there. I have taken a lot of pictures... but I can't find the cable that connects my camera to my computer. Hopefully it will turn up somewhere soon.

We are about to go check out the Zoo for free! Bank of America has this deal where on the first Saturday of the month, admission is free to several museums and attractions. I'm excited but I know it is going to be a mad house. I'll try to take some pictures and post them when I find my cable. Have a good day!

ZZZZZ

What a long week. You know that G.W. passed away a week ago today. Add in the visitation, the funeral, seeing family and friends one more time and the trip back home and the week got even crazier. We made it back this morning about 1:30. I started back to work today and so needless to say, I'm exhausted and am going to bed. On a bright note, I am actually kind of excited about school starting back. After going today and seeing some changes and meeting some new people I have a much better attitude about it all. I worked on my room all day today and will try and put some pictures up here tomorrow night. Goodnight!

A Hard One to Write

Last night, my dear friend G.W. passed away. I talked about him on here earlier in the week and how he knew he had much greater things ahead. We all knew that. I know that he is in such a better place. A place where his pain is long gone. A place he lived his whole life waiting for. I know all that but am still sad today. I can't even begin to tell how wonderful this man was. I can't even begin to tell you how special he was to me. How he was worried sick about me getting married and moving to Atlanta even though he was so sick with cancer. How he sent me a card almost every week to encourage me. How we didn't know if he could make it to the wedding because of his illness. How he surprised me and showed up and came back there right after I got ready. How he gave me a hug and told me he wouldn't miss it. How I framed this picture and sent it to him and he kept it in his living room. How he gave me a hug every single Sunday at church and how that became "our thing." How the last time I was able to sit by him in church he sang When We All Get to Heaven with such passion it made me stop and think about my own life. How I know he meant every word of that song with all of his heart. How every time I complained about anything he would say, "Well...the Lord said he'd take care of you." The next few days are going to be hard for everyone who knew this man. He has no idea how many lives he touched. I know he sure touched mine.

Cute Kids

I've been in LR since Tuesday visiting family and a good friend of mine from church. He is an older man that I have known for a long time. He actually baptized me and has remained very close with our family. He has battled cancer for years and has not been doing well lately. I was able to spend a few hours with him on Wednesday and am very thankful for that. It makes me sad to see him like this but I know that he has better things ahead.

For the past two days, we (me, my mom and sister) have been watching the two cutest kids on the planet. We started watching the little girl last year when she was only 3 months old. Now she has a baby brother and we get to watch both of them. I love these kids! I really do. The past few days have been great. I have to squeeze in all of my time with them before I have to go back to the ATL.

Tonight I'm going to a family birthday party my cousin and tomorrow I'm going to float the Buffalo with my dadio. As you can see, I'm enjoying my time at home. Enjoy the pictures of the kids.

A Lazy Monday

Meet Max. Max is crazy. Max likes to pull everything out of your bathroom trashcan, spread it all around your bathroom and come sit right in your lap like nothing has happened. A friend of ours is out of town for a few nights and so we are watching his two crazy dogs. We've enjoyed having them around but it has made me realize that I'm glad we don't have a dog right now. I'm used to living in the country with dogs where they do their business on their own time. Here in the city... their business is your business.

Besides taking care of the dogs, unpacking the occasional box, taking an extremely long nap and working on the blog I have had a pretty lazy day. Last night for our church small group, I made some cookies that might just be the best in the world. I stole them from a blog (confession: someone that I don't even know). Anyway, here is the link to her blog.Go make these cookies. Now. http://marriageconfessions.com/?paged=2

Wow... bad start.

Wow. I am off to a terrible start to the blogging world. A lot has happened since June 23, or whenever I did that first post. We moved and then left for NY three days later. I haven't really had the internet until now so I guess I have a good excuse. And now. Drum roll please. Let me fill you in.

First, we moved into a sweet house... an old house with a lot of "character". Now when I say old, I'm talking built in 1909 old. It's a duplex and we are on the bottom basement level. We have a great porch with a swing and a lot of room for flowers and hanging out. We just got a grill yesterday (thanks to my dear ol' man's parents) and have really enjoyed having people over. Along with the character of this house, have been a bunch of other surprises. You know, fun surprises like an air conditioner that leaked water all along a wall in our kitchen, living for two days without hot water, a leaky dishwasher, having a heck of a time getting internet because our front door is behind the house (and this confuses Comcast?) and... a little bit of a bug problem. Yeah, I'm not proud to admit it but we did have some "waterbugs, " as would rather call them. I think we are over that problem. Maybe.

Then,right after we moved we flew up to New York to spend some time with Seth's parents. They have a really nice house up in Binghamton which is super close to a bunch of fun things. I tried twice to witness my first lacrosse game (Seth's little brother plays) but both times it got cool and started to rain and my interest kind of faded. One day we all drove over to Niagara Falls which is about four hours from their house. We spent the day at the park taking a bunch of pictures just like tourists, looking at the waterfalls and taking the Maid of the Mist Tour. I have been there once before about nine years ago when my Youth Group took a mission trip up to NY and was pretty excited to go back. This time, we did a lot more looking around at these crazy impressive waterfalls. We spent the 4th at their house eating on a Low Country Boil. Now, if you have never had one of these... you are missing out buddy! Crab legs, shrimp, corn on the cob, a Zataran's crab boil bag and you got yourself a meal. I ate this sitting outside in front of a fire with a jacket on. Yes. A jacket. On July 4th. Is something wrong with that picture?

On Monday, Seth and I rode a Greyhound to the Big City. We wandered around the streets (and I of course took about a zillion pictures), made our way on the Subway and ate some so-so food. One thing I really wanted to do was go back to the World Trade Center. Back on that mission trip I was talking about before, we went inside the WTC and took the tour. It was an un-real feeling to watch the 9-11 events happening less than a year after I had been in there. Anyway, we rode the subway downtown to the site. It has a construction wall around it now, but you can kind of peek in the corner and see this massive hole in the ground where they once stood. We spent the rest of the day eating a hot dog in Central Park, walking through Times Square, having a drink in Soho and a quick stop in Sephora for me. It ended up being a pretty fun day!

So that gives a you a little taste of these past few weeks. Now, we are back in the ATL still trying to get unpacked and settled in our new house. We are watching a friend's dog for the weekend and I have found it to be much more fun to play with him...instead of unpacking, I mean. There are some pictures from the trip at the top. Enjoy!