And Friends are Friends Forever...cue Michael W. Smith music

This past weekend I had the JOY of getting to hang out with my roommate/best friend from college who is now a missionary in Africa. She had been there the last several months and we keep up via blogs and facebooks, but there's nothing like face to face conversations. Even phones can't put a price tag with being face to face. Sharing dinner and life. I can't even begin to explain how blessed I am to have met Sandra. We met whenever we found out we were going to be roomies our freshman year of college. I called her (and thought that Sandra was an old person's name...judgmental 18 year old? yes.) and we chatted about what we'd bring into our dorm rooms, but nothing too deep. Little did I know how much God was going to use her as my best friend for life. Sandra is one of the most godly servants I know. She is constantly looking for ways to serve. She stayed at our house on Monday while we were at work, and I thought to myself..."Good. It will be quiet. She can take a long shower. Watch t.v. Sit on the porch. " You know...things you don't get to enjoy while in the jungles of Africa. In Sandra's mind, she wanted to clean my house (which I quickly shot down) or make us dinner (which I accepted). Wow. If it were me, I would just want to relax. She's also one of those best friends that you rarely get to talk to, but when you do, it's like no time has passed at all. Those sweet friendships are few and far between. I'm so thankful for the time I had with her this weekend and for the impact she has on the Kingdom....both here in the states and in Africa. God, thank you for my sweet friend Sandra. She's such a gift from you. Thank you for teaching me how to be a better servant through her example. Amen.

Watch what you say...

This being Friday, and my first full week back since posting all of my positive choices I was going to make after Spring break, I feel the need to give you a little update and a word of advice.

1. Watch what you say. :) When I talked about making choices about my attitude and the things I can control, I had no idea what the devil was going to throw at me this week. Here are just a few of the things....having rumors flying from many people about you resigning from your job (I felt a little like I was back in middle school dealing with rumors again...haha), getting a bulleted lengthy list of all the things you're doing wrong at your job, getting ready for MOCK TAKS. And that's just naming a few. This week I had plenty of opportunities to choose to either a. make the best of my job and be thankful I still have one or b. get angry, quit, and eat green beans in a tent.




So I chose a. And there's no way I could've done that without the help of a couple of pretty special people. One is my partner teacher, Becca. She's been teaching for longer than I've been alive, literally. You wouldn't know it by looking at her beautiful skin but she's been in the "biz" for a long time. I look to her for a lot of guidance. One of the things she always says is "All is well." Today she told me that "where two or more are gathered in His name, He's there". There are two of us, so we know that we can bring Christ into our classrooms. :) Just the encouragement I needed. My second special friend is Bridgette. She came up with the great idea that every month on the 25th (payday) we'd get together just the two of us for catch up, girl time. Boy am I ever looking forward to this! What a great friend she is, and I'm so excited for our monthly date. Yes, when you are full time mommy, wife, teacher, etc you don't always get weekly girls night outs so I'll settle for monthly ones. Two very special people who God has placed in my life for "such a time as this" to give me the encouragement I needed. So thankful for those two ladies. And those are just two of the many to name a few. :)

Back to Work....

Well tomorrow is Monday. After 9 days of non school bliss, it's back to the daily grind. Don't get me wrong, I love my job. I enjoy teaching and I really have a great group of kids. It's just the whole getting up early business....I HATE getting up early. I'm determined that after this most enjoyable spring break I'm going to make it a point to be more positive about the end of the year. If you're a teacher, you know how crazy the end of school gets. You're thrown with activities, TAKS, grading, parties, and everything in between. BUT...I can do this. This break was just what I needed to get my batteries recharged. I'm not saying that tomorrow is going to be awesome, because I know what I'm faced with. Papers that didn't get graded over spring break, they'll need to be recorded and put in folders, week at a glance needs to be typed and printed, and we start tutorials this week until 4:30 everyday. So I know that just because I'm feeling positive and re-energized doesn't mean that at 5:30 tomorrow morning the devil isn't going to start working on me, because he will. He will tempt me to hit the snooze, which will in turn make me run late for school, which will in turn make me not get things done like I need to, which will then in turn make me cranky and flustered when my kids walk through the door. INSTEAD I'm going to CHOOSE to praise God. CHOOSE to thank Him for the job I do have, whereas some are not as lucky right now. I'm going to CHOOSE that when someone starts griping I'll be the one to point out the positive in the situation or possibly tell them to shut it or go home. :) When I feel frustrated with my kids who still don't know the procedures that we've been practicing/using since August, I will CHOOSE to keep my cool. Tomorrow and for the rest of the year, I will CHOOSE to make it a good year. No one can determine my attitude but me. And I know that God has me there for a reason. I also know that there is NOTHING that God can't do. So when I feel frustrated or tired and ready to throw in the towel, I'm going to remember that God is with me. He's got this all under His control, and there is nothing that He can't do. If He CHOOSES not to, then I'll trust that. If He CHOOSES to do something that isn't what I would do, I'm going to trust Him. I just needed some time away to refocus. Don't you love getting that time to do that? Even if you're not a teacher and you don't get spring break....do you have times when you step away and God allows you some time of refreshment and enlightenment? It's good. God is good. Have a great Monday friends.

Highlights from Spring Break 2011!

Sam and his Memaw enjoying the planes at the air show.

The absolute highlight of Sam's zoo trip was the aquarium. As soon as we got in there he kept hollering "fish, fish!" I think we have a good idea for a birthday present this year!

Sam and his sweet friend Raylee playing on the slides. She will be an excellent baby sitter in a few years. :)

Sam and Bradley cutting up on our way into the zoo. They sure do love each other bunches.

Sam and his friend Shyla at the park. They go to church together and will be in the same preschool class next year and they are just the sweetest. This picture makes me smile every time I see it. :)

I decided to post a couple of my favorite pictures from our spring break adventures since there were lots of pictures! I hate that they weren't in order but oh well! Spring break is coming to a close but I feel like I can make it just 9 more weeks! This was exactly what I needed...to get away and do fun things with the family. So fun! Next weekend we're going to the state fair and the next weekend is our nephew Bradley's birthday party. Before you know it Easter will be here! And you know what's after that...SUMMER! Bring it on! Happy Spring, everyone! Enjoy the beautiful weather. Spend time with family and loved ones OUTSIDE!

One of those days....

Today was one of those days where I felt like I could be a stay at home mom if it were possible. Sam and I had a fabulous day. We read every board book he has, sword fought, grocery shopped, laundry, and just had an all around great day. I even told Jared today that if every day were like this I would rock as a stay at home mom...but everyday is NOT like today. Take yesterday for example. We went to the zoo and had a blast. About an hour into the trip Sam got really fussy because he needed a nap and I was getting tired fast. Unfortunately, it wasn't up to us when we got to leave so we drug our cranky heels for several more hours until we finally hit the road. Once in the car Sam still had not had a nap and was cranky the entire 2 hours home. 2 HOURS people. One of us was going to get hurt if we didn't get out of the car soon. That being in my mind still on days like yesterday, I would go insane if I stayed at home with him. Thankfully, I get the best of both worlds. I'm thankful that I can provide for my family and get to stay home several times throughout the year. Thanksgiving break, Christmas break, Spring break, and yes the blissful summer break too. I may not get to be the homeroom mom bringing the cookies to the party, but I will be the crazy mom who stays up past her kids bedtime to bake the cookies that will get sent to school for the party. In a perfect world I could stay at home and make money/insurance but we all know this world isn't perfect. For now, I'll take my little slice of heaven aka SAHM (stay at home mom) for the time I'm given. You know why? Because today is Friday which means our spring break fun is quickly coming to an end. But in just a few more weeks summer will be here and we will be partying it up at the lake....can't wait!



P.S. Please don't read this post and reply with a rant about your opinions about working mothers or SAHM. I'm just simply writing about how great of a day today was and how I wish it could be like this all the time, but I am very aware of the difficulties when things aren't perfect. I applaud both groups of mothers and all in between.

Life with a little boy...and one more on the way!

Getting the first of many "goose eggs". As you can tell it hasn't slowed him down ANY!

Chattin' with the ladies...

Sword fighting with Momma & Daddy

First four wheeler accident...no injuries this time thankfully.

Learning to "hut, hut, hut" as I call it.

Blowing up beach balls like Daddy does

Learning to be a ladies man.

Playing in the dirt

Going for a nightly soak in the tub

Lovin' on my #1 lady...my Momma!

We are so excited to have another little boy for Sam to play with and to add to all the excitement that Sam already brings to our lives! It's gonna get crazy around here!

Need a Break?

I think I'm just needing a break. My students are driving me crazy and even some teachers are driving me crazy! Sam is definitely going through some trying times with us (to put it nicely) and I think more than anything we just need a break. Our family is planning on hitting up the Houston Zoo and Aquarium this spring break and maybe a little putt putt? We're dying to do anything fun. So I apologize for my lack of blogging lately. I'm just tired combined with Sam pushing the limits these days that by the end of the day...I'm...well...spent.

I'm curious...what are your family fun spring break plans?

BTW...we go to the doctor on Monday. IF we can't hear a heart beat again then we'll get an ultrasound...THE ultrasound. I'll keep you posted. :)