Kelli's Korner

New Year's Project

2012-01-02T16:03:00.006-05:00

Eric and I have a long standing joke about a New Year's project. Usually it is done on New Year's Eve. Not this year. We held out until New Year's Day.

I have become addicted to Pinterest. I think I follow it more than Facebook. I love getting new ideas for decorating, teaching, recipes, and crafts. I pin a project I wanted to do to help eliminate the clutter in our kitchen. Here is a picture of what I found on Pinterest:It comes from this blog:

http://delightfulorder.blogspot.com/p/organizing.html

Here is our version:

Eric getting it started:

The Final Product

I am so proud of it. I can't wait to put it to use when we go back to school.

Happy New Year

2012-01-02T15:57:00.002-05:00

We spent a fun evening at home on New Year's Eve. Eric worked on the fire pit so we could roast marshmallows. The kids had a blast getting them toasty brown. Their favorite part was eating the s'mores. After that, we went out front and Rebecca took over as the firework queen. Our neighborhood is supposed to have an ordinance prohibiting fireworks in the sky. Being the rule followers that we are, all of ours were low on the ground. There were some neighbors around the corner that were shooting some major fireworks. The kids could have cared less about those. They were excited about their small ones. Just goes to show you-bigger isn't always better.

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Christmas 2012

2012-01-02T14:11:00.003-05:00

This Christmas was a little different. With 4 children, it is very difficult to travel at Christmas. We decided we would go to Donna's on the Thursday before Christmas and come home on Christmas Eve. My mom and dad were going to come Christmas Eve day and my sister and family on Christmas day.

Unfortunately, my Brother in law, Anthony, was admitted to the hospital on the Monday before Christmas with gallbladder problems. He was in the hospital all week and had his gallbladder removed on Friday. Mom, dad and I met in Asheville on Friday to have our Christmas with the Griffins. The best present...Anthony was released on Saturday and the surgery went well.

Christmas with 4 children is wild. There were presents everywhere. Our floor was one big heap of wrapping paper by the time we finished opening gifts. Below is a slideshow of a few of the pictures. (We can't post pictures of the foster kids so these are very limited.)

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Saluda Shoals Lights At Christmas

2012-01-02T13:50:00.004-05:00

We started what I hope to be a new tradition this year. We went to Saluda Shoals to see the Christmas lights. We were very lucky because there was not a wait. We were able to go around it twice. We even got out and rode the tubes down the "slope". That was fun!! Here are a few of my favorite displays:

Santa and Me

2012-01-02T13:36:00.002-05:00

I was able to get Rebecca to go see Santa another year. : ) It helped having the other kids there to get her to do it. I'll take it however I can get it.

Competition Season

2011-10-23T00:49:00.003-04:00

It's competition season at the Liles' house. Our Saturday's are filled with a lot of cheerleading. I LOVE it!! Yesterday, Rebecca's high school squad took first place at their competition. They have faced a lot of obstacles along the way, but pulled it together on the floor. I am so proud of them.

I am coaching the middle school squad again this year. Our squad has been doing amazingly well this year. We have scored the highest of any other squads at our school.

Safety First

2011-09-10T10:00:00.005-04:00

Eric has had a rough year with driving. He has been caught talking on his cell phone while driving a few times. He has had 2 speeding tickets. He forgot to put his truck in park and it rolled into a ditch. He was called before the safetycommittee at work last week for all of the incidents. (He usually serves on this committee.) They had pictures of the truck in the ditch and him talking on thephone. All of the guys he works with had a great time pulling his chain. One of them recommended that he have to wear a motorcycle helmet when driving. I came up with the idea of him wearing a bicycle helmet. I bought him one and used my cricut to cut out vinyl to decorate it.

Eric thought he needed something on the back. He suggested the number 88. Rebecca came up with is on the back.

He had the office laughing all day. Hopefully, he has learned his lesson.

Let's Go T-Wolves

2011-09-06T21:34:00.003-04:00

Rebecca is cheering on the varsity squad this year. We are all enjoying Friday nights under the lights!! So far the T-Wolves are 2-0. Rebecca LOVES it all!! Her favorite part is dancing with the band.

High Schooler

2011-08-21T21:04:00.004-04:00

Well...it's here. Where did the time go? Rebecca started high school this past Wednesday. She said her first day was scary. She was scared an upperclassman would dump her in a trash can. She was happy that didn't happen. : ) She loves her teachers and looks forward to Friday Night Football.

I started my 25th year of teaching.

Carnival Cruise-Day 3

2011-08-07T23:45:00.003-04:00

Day 3 of our cruise started off with a glitch. Wednesday was supposed to be a stop in Cozumel, Mexico. However, Tropical Storm Dan decided it wasn't meant to be. We were awakened by the sounds of our cruise director, Marky Mark, that due to the tropical storm, we were being rerouted to Freeport, Bahamas. We were VERY disappointed about not going to Cozumel. It was the the reason we chose this particular cruise. However, when life gives you lemons, we make lemonade. We were happy that we would get to visit another tropical place. Eric and I had visited Freeport on our first cruise. But it would be a first for Rebecca. Due to the change in plans, we spent Wednesday at sea. We ate a late breakfast(along with the other 2000 passengers). We decided to look at pictures from the night before, visit the casino, and check out the gift shops. Along the way, we got asked to play in a game of Family Feud with some other families. It was quite amusing. Both teams "won" and were awarded a very nice, 24K plastic ship on a stick. : ) Rebecca decided she wanted to go swimming, so she went back to the room to change. Eric and I wandered around. We went to the Dynasty Lounge and played bingo and watched the Newly Wed Game. When we returned to the room, we found Rebecca sound asleep. She never made it to the pool. We ate dinner in the dining room again. After dinner, we went back to the Dynasty Lounge and watched Minute to win it and a reverse scavenger hunt. We went to the pool area for the Monster Party, but Rebecca wasn't feeling good, so we called it a night.

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Parasailing in Key West

2011-08-07T23:29:00.002-04:00

Before we ever left for our trip, Rebecca and I spent hours researching the cruise and excursions we could take. One that really interested she and Eric was parasailing. I, on the other hand, was not interested at all!! We booked the excursion after we boarded the ship. We decided they should do it first thing so we could spend the rest of the time in Key West doing some shopping/sight seeing.
We met the guide when we got off the ship. She put us on the "train" to take us into town to meet another guide. There were 4 others going on the parasailing excursion. I watched Eric and Rebecca ride off on their adventure and I walked around Mallory Square. Here are the pictures one of the guides took of Eric and Rebecca's adventure on the wild side:

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Carnival Cruise-Day 2

2011-08-05T23:25:00.003-04:00

Our first full day started off with a port in Key West, Florida. None of us had ever been there before. The boat ported at the Naval base. We had to take a "train" to the center of town. Eric and Rebecca had an early appointment to go parasailing early that morning. While they went parasailing, I walked around a few of the shops. We met back up and walked around town. Rebecca got a henna tattoo. We ate at Sloppy Joe's bar. I tried their signature sloppy joe. It was yummy. We found Jimmy Buffet's original Margaritaville restaurant. Since we had already eaten, we went to the gift shop and bought t-shirts. It was really hot, but we enjoyed the excursion. The most interesting fact I learned was that US Hwy. 1 begins in Key West. Hwy. 1 runs through Lexington County. Tuesday night was Cruise Elegant night for dinner. We all got dressed up and enjoyed a delicious meal. We caught the tail end of a show and then called it a night.

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Carnival Cruise-Day 1

2011-08-05T22:49:00.002-04:00

We went on our first family cruise last week. What a wonderful vacation. Here is a slideshow of our first day.

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The $5000 Smile

2011-08-03T09:30:00.003-04:00

Before:

After:

After 2 years and 8 months, she was finally able to eat corn on the cob. It was the only food she wasn't allowed to eat that she actually didn't eat. She's not too excited about the retainer, but her smile sure is pretty.

Bunnies Spotted

2011-06-21T23:55:00.005-04:00

It is a joke in our house about Eric seeing bunnies everywhere. Before he was diagnosed as bi-polar, he was seeing bunnies everywhere. All but what time was his illusions due to the illness.

Tonight while he was grilling, he noticed a small family of bunnies living in an overgrown area near the pool. He was able to pick one up and let us pet it. We actually found their "nest". Two of them found hiding places so we wouldn't get them. Rebecca took some lettuce out to them. We'll check in the morning and see if they ate any.

The Baby Bunny

Trying to Get Away

Little Girls Cheer Clinic

2011-06-20T10:00:00.004-04:00

It all started 3 years ago when I forced Rebecca to go to the high school cheerleader's little girl clinic. She did not want to go, but I insisted. She left on Saturday loving cheerleading and we enrolled her in a tumbling class the next month. Here is a picture of her at the clinic in 2008. She is the one on the front row in the teal shorts.

Fast forward 3 years, cheering on the middle school squad for 2 years, and an all star team for 1 year. She is now a varsity cheerleader at the high school. She was one of 36 girls that got to do the teaching at the clinic this year. Here we are together on the last day.

The Varsity Squad and Coaches

Rebecca and 8 & 9 Year Olds

She had a blast. If I do say so myself, she was a great leader. Way to go, Rebecca. I am so proud of you.

8th Grade "Graduation"

2011-06-11T23:12:00.003-04:00

Rebecca's 8th grade year was her best yet. She took 3 high school classes- Honors Algebra 1, Honors English 1, and Spanish 1. She ended the year with a 4.0. We are very proud of that accomplishment.

I was able to attend her graduation. (Eric was in the hospital. That's a story for another day.) She earned Honor Roll for the entire year and The Presidential Academic Excellence Award. It was signed by President Obama. The entire ceremony was very well done. We are so proud of her!!

I was very scared about the prospect of her beginning middle school 3 years ago. I have to say that I was VERY pleased with her overall experience. She had amazing teachers and wonderful administration. They really did want what was best for the children and did what they could to accommodate the students. Thank you, Carolina Springs Middle School, for a wonderful 3 years.

Waiting for everyone to march in

Shaking hands with her teachers

She did well with awards

WKHS Class of 2015 learn how to make the T-wolves symbol

8th Grade Dance

2011-06-11T22:43:00.004-04:00

Each year, Rebecca's school holds an end of the year 8th Grade Dance. Rebecca wasn't going to be able to go due to cheerleading practice. Lucky for her, the coach canceled practice for that night and she was able to go. She had already seen a dress she was interested in, so we set off to find it and a pair of heels to go with it. Finding her first pair of heels that she could walk in was a lengthy ordeal, but we were finally successful.

She didn't have a date, but enjoyed the time with her friends. I was able to get a few pictures before they went into the school. Needless to say, it is very hard for me to believe that she is so grown up looking.

Lexi and Rebecca-Ready to go

Love those beautiful eyes

Beautiful

Proud Parents

Rebecca and her friends-Carlye, Rebecca, Jaynie, Lexi, and Hannah

Pool Time

2011-06-11T22:26:00.003-04:00

The pool is open for the season. Rebecca found a very cool float that we are all enjoying. Ready for a summer full of pool time fun!!

Getting the tube ready

Hannah and Rebecca trying to decide who was going in first

The Island Float

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T23:00:00.003-04:00

Here are some shots of our Easter Sunday. It was very low key. However, the traditions continued. Egg dyeing and an egg hunt.

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Cheerleading Tryouts

2011-04-16T23:29:00.003-04:00

I think cheerleading tryouts were more nerve racking for me than Rebecca. She had 4 days of tryouts. The first day they learned a cheer and dance. On Wednesday, they showed whattumbling they have. She threw a round off 2 back handsprings, toe touch back handspring, and standing back handspring. Yeah, Rebecca!! On Thursday, she and her stunt group had to show the skills they could do. She said they did great. Friday was the final day. They went out in groups of 4-5 and did the cheer, dance, and jumps.

On her way to the final tryout

Typically the results have been posted the same evening, even though they say they won't be up until the next morning. We went out to eat, walked around Wal Mart and then sat in the school parking lot waiting for the coaches to leave. Around 11:00, they finally left, but no results were posted. We went home and Eric went back up at 12:15 to check. Still no results. I received a phone call at 4:45 in the morning from one of Rebecca's friends, Hannah. The results were posted. We all jumped in the car and went to the school.

I am thrilled to say that Rebecca made the varsity squad. She and 3 other girls from her middle school squad made the varsity squad. I am so proud of her.

Now comes the fun part....writing out those checks-to the tune of almost $900. It's all worth it!!!!

3 Years Later

2011-04-12T18:55:00.004-04:00

Rebecca became interested in cheerleading the summer between her 5th and 6th grade year. We immediately enrolled her in a tumbling class to prepare her for middle school tryouts the following year. For the past two years, I have brought home tumbling mats for Rebecca to practice her tumbling for tryouts. Every year she wouldn't do it without spotting. However, the third year was a charm. Here she is doing her thing. We are so proud of her. Tryouts are this week. I know she will finally throw her tumbling at tryouts. We'll let you know how she does this weekend.

Round Off Backhandspring

Toe Touch Backhandspring

2011-04-06T19:48:00.003-04:00

Okay, I know. You want a REAL blog post. Well, I guess I’m just trying to get back in the game. Thanks to my friend Nicole I figure I’ll try it.

Age: 45

Bed Size: King

Chore I Hate: mopping floors

Dogs: 3- 2 golden retrievers outside, 1 maltese inside

Essential Start of Your Day: alarm clock

Favorite Color: lime green

Gold or Silver: silver

Height: 5’

Instruments I Play: none

Job Title: Mom, wife, teacher

Kids: Rebecca-13

Live: Lexington, SC

Mom’s Name: Hope

Nicknames: In high school-Kapalko legs

Overnight Hospital Stays: 3-birth of Rebecca, gallbladder, knee replacement

Pet Peeve: people chewing with their mouths open

Quote From a Movie: "I'll have what she's having" (It's the only one that came to mind.)

Right- or Left-Handed: Left

Siblings: 1 brother, 1 sister

Time You Wake Up: 5:30 a.m.

Underwear: granny panties

Veggie You Dislike: most green ones

What Makes You Run Late: teenager

X-Rays You Have Had: Dental, ultrasounds, liver, knee, galbladder

Yummy Food You Make: lasgna

Zoo Animal You Like Best: giraffe

So, that’s me, from A to Z. How about you? Copy and paste and fill this out on your blog – leave a comment and I’ll come see. If you don’t have a blog, leave a comment anyway so I know you’re all still out there…

The Things We Do For Love

2011-03-19T01:59:00.002-04:00

Yes, I'm playing off of an old song and showing my age.

Rebecca had two friends over to spend the night tonight. We took them to Five Guys for dinner. Eric decided to take them to get ice cream. On the way, we passed by T.J. Maxx. One of the girls said "Collin is at T.J.Maxx.". Just so happens this is who one of the girls likes AND the son of a lady that works in Eric's office. So Eric whips the car into the parking lot and the girls go giggling into the store to find him. Come to find out, they had not made it there yet. So we told them to meet us at Marble Slab. we sat in the parking lot and had a few laughs over some sights and sounds. The boy finally arrived and we all went in. After we got in there, the girls didn't want any ice cream. They couldn't eat in front of the cute boys. :). They all sat at a table together. The girls talked to each other and the boys talked to each other. They wouldn't all talk together. Oh to be young again......

Slacker

2011-03-13T08:02:00.003-04:00

Okay, okay, okay. I know I've been VERY slack about updating my blog. Hopefully this post will update you on things going on at the Liles' house.

Rebecca is keeping us busy with her all star cheerleading. We enjoyed 2 competitions in February and March. We traveled to Charleston for a JamFest Lite competition. It was held at The Citadel. What a historic campus!! Her team placed 2nd in their division. It was just what the girls needed to boost their confidence.

We also enjoyed a 2 day competition held in Columbia during the first weekend in March. It was put on by UCF. It was an amazing competition. The CEO/Founder of UCF, Randy Dickey, did not leave any detail out. The girls improved their routine, but didn't place as high as they had hoped. They came in 9th out of 11 teams. From that competition, I have a new favorite family photo.

As you can see by the new family picture, we are back down to 3. The kids went back to their dad on Feb. 25th. It was one of the hardest days for all of us. It is very quiet around the house and I keep looking at the laundry thinking that we didn't really wear many clothes this week. We spent yesterday putting their rooms back to the way they were. We miss them very much every day.

I got a new car. It is a Kia Sorento. It has a lot of bells and whistles on it. Rebecca and I are in love with it. She asked me yesterday if it would be her car when she started driving.

That's what's going on with us lately. I promise I'll try to do better about updating more often.

Happiness

2011-02-06T11:22:00.002-05:00

Oh, the things that make me happy as I get older:

A new-quiet dishwasher

Nice and roomy with the silverware in the door

On another note, something else made me happy yesterday...I walked DOWN the stairs with alternating feet for the first time since my surgery. : )

Happy Birthday, Eric

2011-02-06T11:15:00.002-05:00

Eric turned the big 4-0 on the 4th. It was very low key since he didn't get home until 9:00 that night. The kids couldn't wait for him to get home so they could sing happy birthday to him. I think Eric's favorite present was homemade chocolate chip cookies. He has them hidden so no one else can eat them. : )

Happy 40th, Eric. Here's to 40 more.

All Star Cheerleading

2011-01-30T20:54:00.004-05:00

Rebecca has taken on a new adventure this year-All Star Cheerleading. It is an entirely different atmosphere than school cheerleading. Her squad, Renegade Rapids, had their first competition today in Columbia. Here is a video of the performance.

Here she is in her uniform:

January Snow

2011-01-15T12:57:00.003-05:00

On Monday, January 10th, South Carolina was blessed with snow. At our house, we had about 5 inches on the ground. School was cancelled and we had some happy children. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get out and play in it. However, the kids had a great time.

We all enjoyed being inside and enjoying the fire in the fireplace. Eric had been to the store and bought goodies in case the power went off. I got us started and we all roasted marshmellows. Add some chocolate and graham crackers and everyone was having fun. The next night, we roasted hot dogs in the fire place. Oh the memories.....

I do have a new respect of my parents and other parents with more than 1 child. 7 days cooped up in the house is too long. The kids are doing nothing but arguing. It's time for them to go to school so that they are away from each other and get back into a routine. : )

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T06:53:00.004-05:00

The Liles' brought in the new year with a bang. We spent most of New Year's Eve day running errands. While we were out and about, we picked up some hats, horns, glasses and other New Year's Eve goodies. We also picked up some fireworks. We had some very happy and excited kids!!

About 11 years ago, we had just moved into our new house in Lexington. It was a fixer upper and Eric spent the entire month of october painting, replacing carpet, etc. before we moved in. Once we moved in, we didn't do anything else to the house. Fast forward to New Year's Eve...Idecided it was time to scrape the paint off the windows. Eric was thrilled that I was putting him to work. (Momma Hope coming to visit is a great incentive to get little projects done.) We worked hard that night and got them finished. Since then, we've had a running joke about what project we're going to do on New Year's Eve. This year was no different.
We decided to bunk the girl's beds so that they would have more space in their room. They were beyond excited about that. Here's a picture of Eric almost done with his project. We went outside to shoot the fireworks during half time of the S. Carolina football game. The kids(big and small) had a great time doing sparklers and shooting off the fireworks. I sat inside and watched through the window due to the cold weather bothering my knee.
When it came time for the ball to drop in Time Square, we had to wake up Eric, Rebecca, and M. We all counted down and tooted our horns to bring in 2011.
We are hoping for good things to happen in 2011. May it be prosperous for you and yours.

Knee Surgery

2010-12-30T23:23:00.002-05:00

My right knee has been giving me problems since late summer. I have been going to the ortho since August about it. I've had a cortisone shot, water drained, and another shot in the knee to help relieve the pain. Unfortunately, those things only lasted about a week and I was back in pain. We were trying to hold out until next summer to do anything about it.

After an MRI reveled bone on bone, I discussed a knee replacement with my doctor. He said I was a good candidate for a partial knee replacement. The recovery time is much shorter than a total replacement-2-3 weeks vs. 4-6 weeks. We decided to go ahead and do it over Christmas break so that I could go back after the holidays and not miss much work.

My surgery was done on Dec. 15th. Once the doctor got in there, the damage was worst than he anticipated and wound up doing a total knee replacement. I stayed in the hospital for 2 days.

The recovery has been very emotional for me. I cry at the drop of a hat. I've really had to work at doing my physical therapy. That has gotten better over the past week. My biggest challenge right now is not being able to get comfortable or sustain attention on anything for very long. One would think this would be a great time to read, do crafts, etc. However, I can't get into anything. It's very frustrating.

I know I haven't been the easiest or most fun person to be around, but I've had some great support. Eric is amazing. He is handling everything so well. He encourages me to exercise the knee and get up and about. He is keeping the house going, the kids entertained, and working his job. What would I do without him?

I also have amazing parents!! They came down and stayed with me while Eric andmthe kids celebrated Christmas at his mothers. They were good moral support as well as my cheerleaders. Mom helped me with my physical therapy, got me out of the house, and cooked me yummy oatmeal. It was so nice having them here. Oh yeah-they thought they were so cute. They brought me my dad's cane from when he had his knees replaced. While I was taking a nap one day, they put a mini license plate on the cane with my name on it. I guess they wanted everyone to know that I had a license to use the cane. : )

I won't be able to go back to work next week as planned. I'm walking around on it, but my stamina is no where near what it needs to be. I go to the doctor on Monday, so we'll see what he wants me to do.

Holidays

2010-12-24T12:52:00.004-05:00

This has been the most blessed Holiday season ever. With 3 new little ones we shared many daily traditions and created a few new ones. We did the usual tree decorating. We took the girls and let them pick out their own ornaments. This is a tradition we have had since Rebecca was a baby. When we decorate the tree, we each put on our new one in order of age. Eric and I start off with our Atlanta Braves ornament. Then we go from there. The kids enjoyed putting theirs on the tree. Ethan had a little boost from Eric since he wanted his at the top of the tree. After that, we enjoyed sharing all of the memories of the other ornaments. I always enjoy reliving memories of former students, friends, and places.

The entire time we were decorating the tree, Ethan kept saying he wanted to put lights on the tree outside. Eric was determined to make it happened. All 4 kids bundled up and headed outside to help him wrap the lights. The tree turned out beautiful and a new tradition/ memory was made.

We atteneded a foster parent association Christmas party. The kids were able to " shop" and get presents for the foster parents. Rebecca got to take the kids in and help them out with that. We were in line to get our food when the president of the association approached Eric about being Santa. The one that was supposed too come had to back out at the last minute. Eric agreed to do it and did an amazing job! I was even able to get Rebecca to sit on Santa's lap another year. : ).

Due to my knee surgery, Eric had to take the kids to his mother's by himself. My mom and dad came to stay with me while they were gone. They all had a good time at Grannas. They returned on Christmas Eve afternoon with lots of goodies from Granna.

Although we weren't at Grannas for Christmas Eve, we continued our Christmas Eve meal tradition of hot dogs and homemade chili. Donna made her famous chili and sent it home for us to eat. As usual, it was delicious. After dinner, we all gathered around the tree and opened up one gift each. This was a tradition of my family growing up. I can assure you there were no arguments from the kids to do so!! It was tough getting the kids into bed, but they finally gave up around 10:00.

This was the first time we had ever spent Christmas morning with my parents. What a nice treat to be at our house on Christmas morning. I wound up waking up the kids around 7:00 to go see if Santa had visited. He indeed had visited the children. They were so excited over their new goodies. The big hits-Nintendo DS for all of the younger ones and a new t.v. for Rebecca. We moved into the living room to open the rest of the presents. Everyone was spoiled rotten.

My sister, Jennifer, and her family braved the snow and headed this way. We enjoyed a second round of opening gifts after they arrived. If was great to have my family under our roof this year. Momma Hope made lasagna for our Christmas dinner. If was delicious.

A new activity(hope to be tradition) was that the family all watched a movie together. Rebecca got Toy Story 3 for Christmas and was the one we decided on. It was a sweet movie.

The day ended with the women all piling up on my bed and chatting while the kids played games and the men watched t.v. It was just plain good family fun!!

Here is a slide show of some of the highlights. We are not allowed to post the foster kid's pictures on the internet, so there aren't many pictures of the entire Liles' clan.

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Beta Club Induction

2010-11-24T11:30:00.002-05:00

We are so proud of Rebecca. School does not come easy for her. She really has to work at it to make good grades. When she didn't make Beta Club in 7th grade, she made it a goal to make it in 8th grade. We are proud to say her hard work paid off. She was initiated into the Beta Club this past Monday night.

Cheer Competition

2010-11-07T12:33:00.004-05:00

Rebecca and I wrapped up our competition season yesterday with the

state cheer classic. Our girls worked so hard this season. While we didn't do as well as we had hoped, we made tremendous gains as a squad. I couldn't be more proud of the girls. Here is a video of their performance.

Rebecca was sad to see her middle school competition cheer season come to an end. She is more and more like me every day. : )

Here we are about to take the tumbling warm up mat.

This is my dear friend/c0-coach, Doris, and her daughter, Dionne.

Proud parents!!!

Daddy's Little Girl

I have really enjoyed coaching the girls. They have been a sweet group. We still have basketball season, but the "hard" part is over.

Trick-or-Treating

2010-10-31T21:36:00.005-04:00

Rebecca was excited about going with the kids trick-or-treating. She didn't want to dress up until her friend, Miranda, showed up in her super girl outfit. They walked around for a little bit with Eric and the kids and then decided they were ready to join their friends.

Before the change into the costume

Rebecca and her pumpkins

A great group of teens

Rebecca's Loot

Carving Pumpkins

2010-10-31T19:29:00.005-04:00

Halloween with 4 children is quite an adventure. We started out today with carving pumpkins. I bought each of the children their own pumpkin to carve. They each had a small and large pumpkin. They told me what they wanted on their pumpkin and I drew it out for them. They each had their own carving kit and got busy cleaning out their pumpkins and carving the faces. They went from working on them on the counter top to sitting in the middle of the floor working on them. My kitchen floor had pumpkin seeds and pulp all over it when it was all over. It was well worth it when I saw the smiles on their faces.

Rebecca found a pumpkin plant growing inside of her pumpkin.

Trying hard to get the top off

Starting to carve the face

The mess on my kitchen floor

The front porch

Pumpkin Jars

2010-10-17T22:19:00.003-04:00

I love to browse craft sites online. I have been scouring them lately for new halloween ideas. I came across one that looked like fun for the entire family to do. The kids absolutely loved doing it and then seeing them all lit up. Here are a few pictures of our new pumpkins.

Rebecca and Mir Mir making their pumpkins

All lit up on the mantle

What's Happening at the Liles' House

2010-09-30T17:25:00.002-04:00

We recently took a trip to Lenoir City, TN to celebrate my dad's 70th birthday. He informed me that I need to update my blog because he doesn't do facebook. Here's to you, Dad.

Life with 4 kids is amazing, a whirlwind, busy, crazy, and so many other words I can't describe. We are enjoying the children. They have definitely changed our world-for the good!! They pretty much go to school, go to after school care, do homework, and attend Rebecca's cheerleading events. We are signing them up for the Upward Bound basketball/cheerleading program at a local church. I think they are excited to get to participate in something.

Rebecca had her first cheer competition this past weekend. It was a very small competition (2 squads in her division). They came in 2nd. It was a great opportunity for the 7th graders to see what a competition is like on a very small scale. It also gave us a chance to see what kinds of improvements we can make. We have 5 more to go. We hope to increase our score each time.

Eric is doing a great job playing Mr. Mom. He picks up the kids most nights and gets them started on homework. I don't know what we would do without him.

I think everything finally caught up with me yesterday. I came down with strep throat. NOT FUN!!

Cheerleading, homework, and kids about sums up our life right now. Sorry there's nothing more exciting to post.

Life Is Good

2010-09-04T16:46:00.006-04:00

It has been too long since my last post. A lot has happened in the Liles' house. On August 5th, we were blessed with 3 beautiful foster children. We had been working since March to get them in our home. Doubling our family size has been quite an experience. One that I wouldn't trade for the world.

We were blessed by friends and co-workers that showered us with the necessitates for everyday living with 6 people: laundry detergent, food, toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, games, and gift cards. They helped make our financial transition much easier. Thank you to everyone!!

School started on August 19th. Eric was a trooper taking each of them to their Meet the Teacher night. Because I had to be in my classroom to meet my new little ones, he took one of them at a time to meet their teacher. Everyone at the school was so impressed with Eric. The kids are in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade. They have adjusted nicely and love their teachers. We are having to learn how to balance the homework, but life is good.Rebecca is in the 8th grade this year. I can't believe it. She was excited about school starting and being "The Big Dog" at the school. She and her friends couldn't wait to be able to stay in the cafeteria in the mornings instead of having to wait in the hallway for school to begin. Oh the things that excited them. : )Here she is on her first day of middle school.

Rebecca has been an amazing big sister. She really helps us out with the night time baths and bed time. She loves to play the Wii with them and straighten the girl's hair. The hardest part for her has been having to share dinner "talk" time with them. We still manage to take her and do small little things with just her. I think(know) she likes that special attention.

Rebecca and I have also been VERY busy with cheerleading. We practice 4 days a week. It is

very time consuming for me. I love coaching and the girls. I can't wait to see what this year holds for us as a squad.

Eric's office is doing a management class. He goes in early on Wednesday mornings to learn how to become a better manager. He even has to study at night. It's kind of cute.

We aren't allowed to post photos of the kids on the internet. Sorry about that. Trust me when I say that they are beautiful children and we are enjoying them very much!!

That's it for now. Hopefully it won't be so long between posts next time.

Vacation

2010-07-12T19:20:00.007-04:00

Eric had a SC Poultry Federation conference in Hilton Head this past weekend. We were all excited about the chance to go to the beach, especially since it was paid for!! We had hoped we would have our foster children by this time so they could go with us. It didn't work out as planned, but Rebecca's best friend did go with us.

Here are the girls ready to go out to eat with some of Eric's salesmen.

Mark and Mitchell took us to eat at The Bonefish Grill. After enjoying yummy appetizers and an entree, we ordered dessert. Eric ordered the brownie with ice cream. It was the largest brownie I have ever seen in my life. With the exception of a few bites, Eric ate the whole thing.

The girls had been planning their adventures for weeks. They planned to go down to the beach at night and check things out. Let's just say it is VERY dark on the beach at night. Thank goodness for the illumination of a cell phone. They wrote in the sand and walked in the water.

After breakfast at IHop we ventured back to the beach. It was pretty crowded. I decided we should sit close to the water. Bad idea. The tide kept moving up on the sand. We must have moved our things back at least 10 times.

Oh to have these figures again!!

One of their plans was to build a sandcastle. They may have filled the bucket one time a piece. They didn't build a sandcastle. : (

We bought boogie boards from the resort gift shop. They took them out to the water, but brought them back to me because there weren't many waves.

Here they are posing for a facebook profile picture.

It's really hard to see, but there was a jellyfish that washed up on the sand. They decided it would be cool to touch it. Thank goodness it was dead. Lexi wanted to take it home with her, but decided to leave it in the ocean.

The S.C. Poultry Federation had a dinner at the resort. Here we are "dressed up" for the event. The dinner wasn't my favorite. Dessert was great. After dinner, a hypnotist did a show. Eric was a participant and the life of the show. He really did go "under". He was hilarious. Unfortunately, there are no pictures because they said no flash photography.

We actually found sand dollars in the water. We used our feet to find them. We found a ton of them. Some of them even had teeny tine crabs on them. It was pretty amazing. I have never found sand dollars at the beach before.

Rebecca and Lexi talked Eric into letting them bury him in sand. He is one crazy man.

I was fortunate to get to visit with a former student. His family moved to Nashville the year after we moved back to North Carolina. I saw the mom's status on Facebook that they were headed to Hilton Head on vacation. We chatted back and forth and decided to meet up. Seth has gotten much taller and has a really deep voice. It was great to see the entire family.

Before we went out to eat on Saturday night, the girls started horsing around with Eric. They were popping each other with towels and climbing all over him. Here is Lexi on top of Eric's shoulders.

The complex manager for Columbia Farms took all of the Columbia Farm employees and their families out to eat on Saturday night. We enjoyed seafood at Scott's Fish Market. The best part of the meal was dessert. They had my all time favorite dessert: Kentucky Derby pie. Oh my. I haven't had it in a long time. I enjoyed every drop of it.

It was a great long weekend mini-vacation. I hope we'll get to go again. Thanks, Columbia Farms.

The Nation's Birthday

2010-07-05T23:12:00.002-04:00

We enjoyed a quiet Fourth of July. My parents came down to spend a few days with us since we couldn't go up there. We did made the All-American meal for dinner-hamburgers, corn on the cob, and home made salsa from our garden tomatoes. We enjoyed home made ice cream for dessert. A local church put on a great fireworks display.

I am so lucky to live in a free country. Thank you to the men, women, and their families that fight for my freedom.

God Bless America.

2-4-6-8 Who Do We Appreciate? Applebee's

2010-06-26T01:35:00.003-04:00

The 2010-11 cheer season is in full swing. The girls are practicing hard this summer. Last Saturday, we had a team fundraiser at Applebees. They offer a pancake breakfast fundraiser. Each girl sold 10 tickets to the event. We served approximately 130 plates. It is a fun event for the girls. They rotated through the different jobs-meet, greet, and seat-wash dishes-serve. It is a great team builder as they get to know one another better and learn how to work together to get the job done.

Rebecca and her friends-Hannah, Lexi and Carl

My sister and her two boys were able to come and support Rebecca.

My partner, Doris-LOVE HER!!

The girls in their cute zebra outfits!!

Kids Wanted

2010-06-26T01:21:00.003-04:00

We have been working for 3 months to become licensed to foster/adopt a group of siblings. They are not legally free for adoption, so we are going to start with foster care. The process is going slower than we would like. We really had hoped to have the kids before now. However, we ran into a small snag last week. We hope to have it resolved soon. In the meantime, our parents have been gracious in helping us with the bedding/decorations for the bedrooms. Donna, Eric's mom, bought the girl's comforter sets. They are precious. My mom made the curtains for their room.

My mom has gone crazy over the boy's room. His favorite color is red, so I decided to do a plain red comforter. Momma Hope bought it. She also go him a precious lamp. The base is a small baseball bat. You turn it on by pulling the whistle. She also bought sports stickers for the wall, bookends, a shelf, and a wall plaque-all in a sports theme. He loves to play sports!! She also bought a set of baseball sheets and made the curtains for his room.

We appreciate everything they have done. Now if we could just get the kids. I know they will love their new bedrooms.

Logan's Visit

2010-06-26T00:51:00.004-04:00

We were finally able to get my youngest nephew, Logan, to visit us by himself. He loved coming so he could go swimming. He was a little fish. He played and played for hours, many times all by himself. Here are a few pictures of his fun:

Oodles of Noodle Fun

Fun with Uncle Eric

Just Chilling Out

Blowing Out the Air

Playing the Wii with one of my students, Connor

He fell asleep on the gym floor during cheer practice

We absolutely enjoyed having Logan. We hope it is the first of many more summers to come, just like his big brother, Jordan has done for 15 years.

Proud Aunt

2010-06-12T21:32:00.005-04:00

My oldest nephew, Jordan, graduated from Madison High School today. I am so proud of the young man he has become. He was an honor graduate and plans to attend Western Carolina in the fall. I must say, he looked very handsome in his royal blue gown.

The Griffin Family

Jordan with Momma Hope and Grandad

Jordan and his girlfriend, Anna

The "Brown" Family

Show us some legs, boys.

I know that Jordan will become successful in whatever he does.

I love you, Jordan!!

June Gifts

2010-06-08T22:43:00.006-04:00

It's that time of the year. We received 4 high school graduation announcements and 1 elementary school announcement. Place on top of that a wedding invitation. I'm the type of person that likes to get the "meaningful" gift. What to do on a budget? This is what I made the two girls:

One is going to UGA and the other to USC Aiken.

This side has their initials.

Filled with medicine cabinet needs: pain relievers, thermometer, antibiotic ointment, and band aides.

One of the graduates is my nephew, so he'll get a special prize. The other boy will get money.

Wow... a month full of gift giving. I'm proud of all of the graduates!!

A Little of This and A Little of That

2010-06-03T22:01:00.006-04:00

Just a few updates on the Liles family:

1. We don't have any answers about the foster/adoption process. The biggest hold up is the North Carolina background check. We were able to obtain another letter from the Duplin

County Court that says we have no child protective service cases against us. We are waiting to hear from the SC DSS lawyer to see if that will suffice. We also have our home study to do.

We're just waiting to hear from the lady that does it. We had really hoped to have them by this coming Monday, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen. We're just praying that it happens by this time next month-maybe sooner.

Rebecca and I worked hard last weekend getting her room put back together and the craft/computer room cleaned out. That was quite a task. Eric has painted the girls room. Now

we just have to move their beds in and buy all of the bedding for all 4 children.

2. Eric went on a fishing trip to Missouri last week. He went with a former co-worker. They had a great time. He actually caught the longest fish both days he was there. He won a $35 pot for the longest fish. : )

Here is the winning trout from the second day. Way to go, Eric!!

3. The 2009-10 school year has come to an end. I can't believe I now have an eighth grader. She had her awards ceremony today. I wasn't able to attend for the first year ever. It was right at our dismissal time, so Eric went instead of me. Rebecca won an award for A/B Honor roll for the entire year. She received a certificate and a medal. We are really proud of her. She works very hard for her grades. Eric had a difficult time getting her to pose for a picture. The one he was able to get was only because another mom/teacher was taking a picture of the group. She has great friends and does well in school. What more can parents ask for?

4. Eric is growing a garden. The plants below began as very small plants in 4 inch pots. They have really taken off. On the far left are cucumbers. Tomatoes are in the middle. Squash is on the right.

Here are the first "fruits" of his labors. I am looking forward to fresh veggies this summer. Yummy!!

5. Sights around the yard:

I love hydrangeas. We have this beautiful one on the side of our house. It has really taken off this year.

Eric planted two more near the pool last summer. This one is absolutely beautiful. I love the purple tint. I can't wait to watch it mature like the other one.

That's it for now. I'm looking forward to some rest, reading, family time, and crafting.

The Waiting Game

2010-05-23T08:46:00.002-04:00

The Liles family is on another adventure in life. We are in the process of becoming licensed to be foster to adopt parents. Through my school, I have learned about a group of siblings that are in foster care with the possibility of adoption. We have agreed to take all three children. At this point, the children are not "legally free" for adoption. That means that the parental rights have not been terminated. However, they are in a group home and need to be placed in a home until the decision is made one way or another.

The licensing process has gone pretty quickly. We found out in mid March about the change of plan for the children. We have done everything we are required to do: physicals, 2 classes, paper work, fire inspection, DHEC inspection, fingerprints, and the list goes on. We are now waiting for an inspector to come to a home study and write up an biography about our family. We also have hit another snag....

We have not lived in SC for five year, so DSS has to go back to our previous state for a background check. Wouldn't you know...NC has some kind of crazy law on their books that will not allow them to release that information to another agency in another state. They are the only state like that. We were told in the beginning that it would be atleast October before the rule was overturned. We decided to take matters into our own hands. Eric drove to our home county in NC and paid for a criminal background check. He then went to DSS there and they did a sexual offender background check for him. Both places put the paperwork in sealed envelopes and signed on the back like a transcript. We were told on Tuesday that everything was good and that our DSS was going to go ahead with everything. Then....on Friday we found out that the DSS check was not for the entire state of NC. Our case worker is checking with someone(?) to see if that is enough information. That then put a delay in sending out the case inspector to do the home study.

We also found out that we have to have more documentation from our doctors about some of our medical history. That won't be hard to obtain. We are just frustrated because he already answered the questions on our medical history forms. Oh well...we'll jump the hoop.

Rebecca is constantly asking us why we are having to do all of this and we don't have to do it to parent her. She is so right. If the parents of children in foster care had to do all we are having to do to get their children back, we would have a lot more children in the foster care system. We learned the hard way in NC that the system is not about the children. It's about giving the parents chance after chance. By doing that, these children stay in foster care until they are too old and people don't want to adopt them. It's sad.

We went yesterday and bought bunk beds for the girls. I found them on Craig's list for a really good deal. Now we just have to wait for the final word. I'm not very good at waiting. : )

Growing Up

2010-05-17T20:56:00.003-04:00

Rebecca has a boyfriend. Today is his birthday and their 1 month dating anniversary. What better way to get to a boy's heart but through his stomach. I taught her how to make my famous chocolate chip cookies. She also made him a homemade card. She was going to give him his present at the cheerleader's Sonic night. However, the rain canceled it, so he came over for dinner. Here are a couple of pictures of the cute couple.

Skyler is a Gamecock fan and tried to turn Rebecca into one with the hat.

The best cookies ever!!

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T22:32:00.002-04:00

Being a mother has to be the most rewarding job in the whole world. I feel blessed that I am able to have the opportunity to be Rebecca's mom. She brings me joy and love.

I have my mom to thank as a role model of what it means to be a mom. I was fortunate to get to spend the weekend with her. She is an amazing lady. I love you, mom!!

I also got to see my sister this weekend. All of the Brown women in one place....watch out!!

Road Trip to Atlanta

2010-04-18T23:14:00.003-04:00

My friend, Ann, from N.C. called me a couple of months ago and wanted to know if she and her two daughters and daughter in law could come stay with us and go to Atlanta to see the Lady Diana exhibit. I always love to have her visit, so I jumped at the chance.

They arrived late Friday night. We met them at Fatz for dinner and then came home to catch up some. On Saturday, we left out about 10:45 for Atlanta. We had a great time seeing all about Diana. Her wedding gown was gorgeous. After leaving, we toured around downtown, found the governor's mansion, went to IKEA, and then went to eat at a Japanese restaurant.

Pam and Jessica on the road

My two princesses: Margaret and Rebecca

Me and Rebecca

Pam, Margaret, Rebecca, Me, Jessica, Ann

Thanks girls!! I enjoyed your visit. Come back soon.

Ingenuity

2010-04-18T22:47:00.005-04:00

We had guests over the weekend. It's funny how we get things done around the house if we know we have company coming. This weekend was particularly important because one of my friends was coming. She is the type that does a COMPLETE house cleaning 2 times a year. She takes a room a day and cleans from top to bottom. Another person that came has a house that looks like it came straight from a magazine. Mind you, we have a nice home and I do keep it straight. However, I DON'T do a yearly top to bottom clean and I have a basic decorating style.

Now to the purpose of this post. We have an open foyer that goes all the way to the second floor. There is a ledge above the door. We don't own a ladder, so the ledge has never been cleaned. I gave Eric the challenge of figuring out a way to clean it. He rose to the occassion. He got his golf ball retriever and duct taped a pledge duster to the end. When he stood in the hallway upstairs, he could reach the ledge with his contraption. Boy was it ever dusty. Here is a picture of the dust he got off of it. Disgusting!!!

Eric stretching over to reach the ledge.

The nasty dust. I think it looks like a dead rat!!

We won't wait 3 years again to dust it. There's no telling what we might get done the next time someone comes to visit. Any takers?

Education in South Carolina

2010-04-14T00:34:00.002-04:00

The State of South Carolina is in a MAJOR budget crunch. Over the last 3 years, we have seen the legislators decrease public school funding. With the proposed budget for the upcoming year, we are looking at funding cost per student at the 1995 rate. Wow. That's scary. We are looking at cutting several programs, furloughing teachers/administrators, and positions/teachers in our district.

The citizens of SC need to wake up and learn what the lawmakers are doing. We have a crazy tax system in our state. We need a major overhaul.

One of the things that I am most upset about the district cutting is the c-team sports programs. This would mean that all middle school sports would be cut. Why does this upset me? Well I have a vested interest-Rebecca. I think that middle school children are trying to find themselves and what better way to do that than with extra curricular activities. I think the district is setting the children up for failure. I think we will see an increase in children making poor decisions about after school activities with no sports to practice/play for. I think we will have a decline in grades. They won't have something to work towards. Don't get me wrong. Education is the MOST important thing. They should be making good grades because that is what they are ultimately at school for. Realistically, sports is what makes many of these children take pride in what they do. I think we need to develop the whole child.

The savings for cutting c-team sports- a little over $50,000. In the big scheme of things-that is just a drop in the bucket in relationship to the over all budget. The $50,000 covers the coaching stipends for 6 schools.

My suggestions? I have actually sent them in to our district office. I hope others are voicing their concerns/suggestions so that we can keep our c-team sports.

1. Ask the coaches if they are willing to coach with no stipend. Maybe offer renewal credits for their teaching certificate instead.

2. Furlough the teachers 2 days instead of 1. This would save over $500,000. This would save a few of the programs they want to cut.

3. Do away with B-team sports at the high school level. They already have JV and Varsity sports. B-team is usually for 9th graders. Those children could play for JV and c-team could stay intact.

I don't know what the outcome will be. I am exercising my right to voice my opinion and fight for what I think is in the best interest of the children.

If you are interested in more details you can go to this site and read more about it.

You can also email any suggestions you might have to: suggestions@lexington1.net.

Thanks for letting me vent. I am really concerned for our teenagers.

Egg Hunt

2010-04-14T00:32:00.003-04:00

Rebecca got all "dolled" up and wanted me to take picture of her outside. I was happy to oblige. She is turning into quite the model. I'm biased I'm sure, but I think she's beautiful.

We finally talked her daddy into hiding the eggs. It was a quite egg hunt with only Rebecca participating, but she enjoyed it that way

Make your own free digital slideshow

Easter Bunny

2010-04-14T00:12:00.004-04:00

I was able to get Rebecca to sit on the Easter Bunny's lap again this year. She wasn't too happy about it, but she did it for me. I hope she appreciates it one day.

The E.B. came to visit her at Granna's house. The bunny left her a new shirt, bathing suit, pair of shorts, t-shirt, and the New Moon movie. She also got some new make-up. She was excited about her new loot.

Thank you Easter Bunny. Bawk Bawk.

Create your own digital ecard

Egg Dyeing

2010-04-14T00:00:00.003-04:00

Rebecca has been dyeing Easter eggs since she was 6 months old. That very first year, we sat her on Granna's table with nothing on but her diaper. She was a talented egg dyer at an early age. We couldn't believe how she gently put them into the water. She has dyed eggs with Granna every year since then. This year was no exception. The two of them had a great time making their creations. This year, however, Rebecca kept trying to tell Granna how to do it. She was even caught in a picture making sure Granna was doing it correctly. Too funny. May the tradition live on...

This greeting made with Smilebox

Sunshine Award

2010-04-05T09:12:00.002-04:00

I was given this award by Kristy. I am suppose to tell you 7 things about myself and then pass this award along to 7 people. Here goes nothing!

1. I am obsessed with my technology. I love anything to do with a computer-especially my MAC.
2. I am the middle child in my family.
3. I love to shop.
4. I make great chocolate chip cookies. Just ask my DAD. : )
5. I have moved 13 times since graduating from college. I REALLY love Lexington.
6. I love Disney World.
7. I have a big heart for others.

I pass this award to:
1. Pamelia
2. Nicole
3. Susan
4. Megan
5. Carrie Ann
6. Jennifer
7. Mary

Spring Cleaning

2010-03-23T21:08:00.003-04:00

Yuk!! How I despise those two words. However, I was just reading some educational blogs and came across an interesting one that challenged me.

This time of year always brings different emotions for me at school. I feel the end is near and that I never have my students where they should be. I panic that they won't be ready for first grade. The blog I read suggested making a list of failures and successes, so here it goes.... (These relate to work.)

Failures:

1. Parent Communication-The hardest thing I find about teaching is talking to parents. I can write notes/newsletters all day long, but I am not good about contacting parents with problems. This has become more prevelant since having my own child. After listening to parents complain about education, I find that what I might think is important, a parent will find it picky. I also have a difficult time explaining myself. I guess I see the big picture and forget the little details.

2. Behavior-I have not had a good year where discipline is concerned. This group of children is VERY talkative and doesn't listen for directions. We have a bunch of chiefs and not enough Indians. : ) I just wish they would listen and follow directions. I have tried our behavior plan with rewarding good behavior with starbucks. It doesn't phase the ones that aren't doing the right thing. I have tried incentives with a marble jar, lunch bunch, silly banz, behavior charts, etc. I just don't seem to be getting through to this group. Many would say that I just haven't found the thing that works with this group. Probably so. Maybe it comes down to problem # 1.

3. Time Management: I need to use my time at school more wisely and get things done. I bring home way too much work. I stay late at school most days. I just don't ever feel like I get it done.

4. Keeping the fun in it: Since moving back to S.C. I am amazed at the difference in the expectations for kindergarten. It is like first grade used to be. There is NO time for the fun things. They (the powers that be) expect you to be teaching the kids to read, add, subtract, and write by the end of the year. What happened to art projects, centers, games, socialization, etc. I hate that we are missing out on the fundamentals that WILL make a difference down the road. I wish I could find the balance.

5. Meeting the needs of all of my children. What an enormous task. I don't ever remember having children at this time of the year that don't know their letters/sounds, numbers, etc. Then I have a few reading on a first and second grade reading level. I TRY to differentiate, but I feel that I can only stretch so far.

Successes

1. Provide a safe and loving environment: Although I am a rule follower, I make it a point to make sure the children know they are safe and loved. It is one place they can count on someone paying them attention and giving them that needed hug.

2. Organization: Enough said.

3. Flexibility: My classroom seems to have a revolving door this year. I have gained/lost 6 students this year. As one leaves, another comes in. I have to be flexible with all of the pullout programs. I have to be flexible when working with 5 other females on a team.

4. Serving my school: I am a firm believer that it takes more than the 7:30-3:00 to make the school work. I stay involved by serving on the PTO executive board and our School Improvement Council. I volunteer to help out whenever needed.

5. Student Growth: Wow. I love this time of year. It amazes the growth the children make. I try telling the parents at the beginning of the year that their child will grow by leaps and bounds. Checking report card skills this past week has proven this statement. I am sooo proud of my kids. They've come a long way...baby.

For those of you that know me well, you know how hard I am on myself. I continually question what I do and try to make sure I keep up with the latest educational programs. I'm sure that if I had done this list every year for the past 23 years, the failures and successes would be very similar. Maybe this post will get me motivated to turn those failures into successes over the next 9 weeks and next school year. If you have any suggestions on how to do so, please let me know.

Tag. You're It!!

2010-03-13T22:48:00.003-05:00

This is a fun little blog game. I got tagged by JoDee and had to tag 5 more people....
Rules:
1. Open your 1st photo folder.
2. Scroll down to the 10th picture.
3. Post the photo and story behind it.
4. Tag 5 more people.

This was taken just a month ago. Lexington actually got some snow. This is a picture of Rebecca and her friend, Lexi playing in the snow.

I tag: Kristy, Megan, Pamelia, Nicole, and Susan.

Enjoy

Frogs, Frogs, Frogs

2010-03-12T16:09:00.003-05:00

Last night we heard the strangest sound outside. I actually thought it was Eric snoring. But, when he woke up and went in the kitchen, I knew it wasn't him. We went outside to see if we could figure it out. Low and behold if Eric didn't find a frog in the pool. The sound subsided while he was standing right there, but returned once we were in bed. We got a phone call about 3:00 a.m. It was our next door neighbor calling to see if the noise was one of our outside dogs in pain.Imagine my surprise when I went outside and saw about 30 frogs in the pool. Not only were there a ton of frogs, but they were mating. Oh My!! I have never seen anything like it. There are even frog eggs in the pool. I was able to get a few so I can take them into my class on Monday. We are learning about frogs this upcoming week. I hope they hatch and we have tadpoles.

The frog mating call is like none other I've ever heard. Happy mating, Mr. Frog.

The actually swim and dive in that position.

Look to the left and you can see frog eggs

All I had to do was pull some pine straw out of the pool and found a ton of eggs.

Crafting

2010-03-07T21:07:00.005-05:00

Eric and Rebecca went to the race in Atlanta today. That left me here to enjoy a day of crafting. I actually got my lesson plans, newsletter, and laundry done before I began. Then it was on....

I made some initials for a gift I'm giving to my cheer co-coach, Doris.

I saw this idea on a craft blog a while back. I actually bought the frame when we went to IKEA last month. Finally got around to making it today. The cool thing about it is I can change the paper to match the different holidays, seasons, or decor.

One of the guidance counselors at our school is going to be the high school j.v. cheerleading coach. I made her a car decal like mine and Doris'. I hope she likes it.

I also made a "box" for Doris' mother. She works at LMC in the discharge planning unit. She asked me to decorate a box for her unit. I didn't really know what to do with it, but it continued to evolve the more I worked on it. I think it turned out pretty cute. You can't see the backside, but it has a puzzle on it which is part of their mission.

Now it's back to school work and the Oscars. It was great while it lasted. It definitely keeps me from eating. : )

Cat in the Hat

2010-03-02T21:26:00.003-05:00

Sunday night I was checking out Facebook when I came across a post of pictures from one of my former students. (I know... hard to believe that I am old enough to have former students actually teaching. : ) ) She had posted some pictures of cupcakes she was making. They were so cute, that I decided I had to make them for my class. They were in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday today.

First the blue frosting

Then the red stripes

The final product

Thanks for the idea, Danielle. I would never have dreamed 18 years ago that I would be getting cool ideas from my former students. I LOVE it!!

Cheer Coaches

2010-02-28T22:33:00.004-05:00

My collegue and friend, Doris, and I are going to coach the middle school cheerleading squad next year. The fun has finally started. We met with the other schools in our attendance zone and got the low down on everything. We have met a couple of times to come up with fundraising ideas and our calendar for the next 6 months. Our parent meeting and tryouts are just around the corner and we couldn't be more excited.

This past week, the current coach passed along some "coach" t-shirts. You would have thought the two of us were winning the lottery. We wore them on Friday with lots of pride. Watch out...here we come.

Happy Birthday, Eric

2010-02-07T17:02:00.001-05:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Crafting

2010-01-18T22:55:00.004-05:00

So...now that I have my Cricut, I have been in the mood to do some crafts. I went surfing the web for some cute ideas and came upon this one. I have seen it many times on my favorite message board, but have never made one. I decided to give it a try for my friend, Doris, that wanted a zebra print notebook. See...she and I are going to coach the middle school cheerleaders next year and she wanted something "just right" to keep all of her notes in. I went a step further and decorated a little pocket calendar to keep up with all of the cheer dates. This one's for you Doris:

The only thing I used the Cricut for was to cut the circles and the D's. Oh well...it was still fun.

I've Been Bitten By The Bug

2010-01-15T13:08:00.004-05:00

I heard about the bug many years ago on my scrapbook message board. I elected to bypass the bug and go with a wish. A wishbladethat is. I thought I should go with the wishblade so that I didn't have to buy any more cartridges. ( I had already gone the Sizzix route and knew it could get pricey.) However, I never could catch on to the learning curve of the wishblade. On top of that, once Windows Vista came out, my wishblade wouldn't work with it. It has had very little use over the few years I have had it.

Fast forward to this year. There were several occasions when I really wanted the Cricut to cut some things for Rebecca's cheerleading squad. I finally bit the bullet after Christmas and purchased one off of EBay with my Christmas money.

I have gone on Ebay and purchased several of the cartridges at greatly reduced prices. The latest one came in just in time for me to make a birthday card for a c0-worker and my sister. After about an hour of meddling with the machine, I finally produced a card and an envelope. The frustrating part...it only turned out to be the size of a credit card. I gave it to the co-worker anyway and told her it was made with love. I adjusted and did something a little different for my sister's card. It turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself.

I have a long way to go, but I'm very excited about the possibilities.

Happy New Year 2010

2010-01-01T22:37:00.003-05:00

As usual, we had a quite New Year's Eve. We are not big party people, so we usually just stay home. We have been know to have a house project that "had" to get done on New year's Eve. This year, we took down our Christmas decorations. It went pretty fast with all of us working together.

After putting it all in the attic, Eric grilled steaks for us. Each year his company gives the employees a $10 gift card to Bi-Lo. We used it to splurge on steaks. They were yummy!! Eric was able to use the new temperature fork he got for Christmas.

Rebecca had a friend over and they went outside to light the small fireworks we were allowed to shoot in the neighborhood. I think Eric had the most fun lighting firecrackers inside the house and throwing them outside to scare the girls.

2010 came in quietly. Eric woke up just as the ball dropped. The girls were outside and I did a small YIPEE.

Happy New Year everyone. May 2010 be prosperous for all.

Make a Smilebox greeting

Family Fun at Christmas

2010-01-01T13:43:00.001-05:00

We always enjoy spending time with family at Christmas time. Rebecca loves being with her cousins and the men enjoy bonding time.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Christmas 2009

2010-01-01T12:48:00.002-05:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Christmas Tradition-Friends

2009-12-21T23:38:00.002-05:00

Rebecca had her annual Christmas get together with her friends Hannah and Lexi. They exchanged gifts to get the night started. Rebecca gave them a board game, New Moon, and some animal bracelets. Lexi gave each of them a shirt from Rue 21. Hannah gave them a gift card to Rue 21. After the gift exchange, they played their new games and sat around playing a game on facebook and goofing off.

Surprise. It's the New Moon game.

Thumb on the forehead. Inside joke.

The girls and their gifts

My three girls

Christmas with Boyfriends

2009-12-21T23:25:00.002-05:00

I started a tradition with Rebecca about5 years ago. She has a little get together for her friends at Christmas time. We have done everything from exchanging gifts, caroling, making gingerbread houses, and having sleepovers. This year, we added a new twist. She wanted to be able to exchange gifts with her boyfriend. She and Lexi invited their boyfriends over. They exchanged gifts, ate pizza, and watched Elf. I think they had a great time. They even endulged me with allowing me to take pictures.

Dillon, Rebecca, Lexi, and Liam

The girls with their new gifts
Dillon, Rebecca, Lexi, and Liam in front of our tree

Lexi and Liam

Dillon and Rebecca

Charleston

2009-12-21T22:44:00.005-05:00

We were given two free rooms in Charleston for the weekend. We invited my sister to join us. Her boys didn't want to go, Anthony was working, so she and a friend decided to have a girls weekend. In the end, Eric wasn't able to go. He had to go stay with his mom for the weekend. Rebecca took her friend, Lexi. We had a great time.

Jennifer and Cyndi

Rebecca and Lexi admire the gum tree.

They love the candy store

I had to walk beside the van because I had a bought of restless legs

Lights on James Island

The end

Annie, Jr.

2009-12-21T22:02:00.005-05:00

Rebecca is taking Drama this 9 weeks. The drama and chorus teachers collaborated on a project for both classes. They produced the play, Annie, Jr. The kids did an amazing job. They were in charge of the props, costumes, acting, singing, stage work, and everything else involved in producing a musical.

Rebecca was an orphan in the production. She tried out for one part, but got a different one. She enjoyed being Duffy.

They performed the play on two different nights. The kids were AMAZING!! It was incredible to think that middle school children were putting on such a fantastic play. Way to go kids.

Cast and Crew Photos

Momma Hope and Grandad came for the performance.

"Duffy and Annie"

The drama queen at work. : )

Rebecca and her drama teacher, Mrs. Castle.

Lights at the Zoo

2009-12-21T18:04:00.004-05:00

We did it. We won the pumpkin decorating contest. Our prize was a trip to the Lights at the Zoo. We received 4 tickets, so Rebecca invited her boyfriend. We had a good time walking around, drinking hot chocolate, and seeing Santa. I was able to get a picture of Rebecca with Santa one more year.

Thanks, Cindy. We had a great time.

Santa, Rebecca, and Dillon

Santa and Rebecca

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it snow

Boys will be boys

Me and Eric

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

2009-12-07T22:43:00.004-05:00

We decided to go with an artificial tree this year. It's a basic 7.5 foot pre-lit tree. It was nice just opening the branches and fluffing a little bit. No fighting over putting on the lights.

Rebecca's Tree

We started early Saturday morning hauling everything down from the attic. Can you believe we have 16 rubbermaid tubs of Christmas decorations? Rebecca and I worked on the inside while Eric hung up the wreaths on the windows. (We're two short. Will have to pick some up this week.) Then we all gathered to put the ornaments on our tree. We have a tradition when we decorate the tree. Eric and I met at an Atlanta Braves game, so we put on a Brave's ornament first. Then Rebecca puts on her 1st Hallmark ornament.

I love putting all of the ornaments on the tree. It takes me down memory lane. I have some from former students, places we've visited, homemade by Rebecca, and gifts from co-workers. They all bring a smile to my face.

Our Main Tree

I love bringing out my Christmas china. When I selected my china pattern, I went with Lenox Eternal. Their holiday pattern co-ordinates with Eternal. My Aunt Cheryl added pieces of the holiday pattern each year for Christmas. I love setting my dining room table with the pretty china. If only I cooked and served food on the china.

The house is done and I LOVE sitting in the room with the lights off and the lit Christmas tree. There is just not a cozier feeling to me.

Levi after a rough day of decorating

My "S'more" Tree

Merry Christmas everyone.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-29T23:32:00.004-05:00

We are thankful for so many things this year. Family is one of those things. We enjoyed traveling to see both sides of the family. The first leg of the trip was to visit Donna. As usual, she had a house full of family come and eat for Thanksgiving dinner. Eric fried 3 turkeys and one chicken. They were delicious. It was great to see his aunts, uncles, and cousins.

That morning, Rebecca decided she wanted me to do a photo shoot of her. We went outside and played around. She had a great time. Here are a few of my favorites:

We left Donna's on Friday and traveled to Knoxville. I enjoyed eating dinner with my parents, my cousin, and her two children. On Saturday, my parents treated us to a trip to see the Lady Vols play basketball. They took us on a tour around the arena. It was cool to see the history of basketball at UT. One person I loved seeing hanging from a banner was Cindy Brogdon. She wound up coaching at my high school after playing in the olympics. The Lady Vols didn't play their best, but they did go on to beat UCLA. Here are a few highlights from the game.

While it's always nice to visit family, it sure is nice to come back home.

Ten Simple Rules for dating my daughter

2009-11-11T22:17:00.002-05:00

I found this posted on a message board I frequent. Since Rebecca is getting closer and closer to dating, Eric and I found it very amusing!!

Ten Simple Rules for dating my daughter

Rule One
If you pull into my driveway and honk you'd better be delivering a package, because you're sure not picking anything up.

Rule Two
You do not touch my daughter in front of me. You may glance at her, so long as you do not peer at anything below her neck. If you cannot keep your eyes or hands off of my daughter's body, I will remove them.

Rule Three
I am aware that it is considered fashionable for boys of your age to wear their trousers so loosely that they appear to be falling off their hips. Please don't take this as an insult, but you and all of your friends are complete idiots. Still, I want to be fair and open minded about this issue, so I propose his compromise: You may come to the door with your underwear showing and your pants ten sizes too big, and I will not object. However, in order to ensure that your clothes do not, in fact, come off during the course of your date with my daughter, I will take my electric nail gun and fasten your trousers securely in place to your waist.

Rule Four
I'm sure you've been told that in today's world, sex without utilizing a "barrier method" of some kind can kill you. Let me elaborate, when it comes to sex, I am the barrier, and I will kill you.

Rule Five
It is usually understood that in order for us to get to know each other, we should talk about sports, politics, and other issues of the day. Please do not do this. The only information I require from you is an indication of when you expect to have my daughter safely back at my house, and the only word I need from you on this subject is "early."

Rule Six
I have no doubt you are a popular fellow, with many opportunities to date other girls. This is fine with me as long as it is okay with my daughter. Otherwise, once you have gone out with my little girl, you will continue to date no one but her until she is finished with you. If you make her cry, I will make you cry.

Rule Seven
As you stand in my front hallway, waiting for my daughter to appear, and more than an hour goes by, do not sigh and fidget. If you want to be on time for the movie, you should not be dating. My daughter is putting on her makeup, a process that can take longer than painting the Golden Gate Bridge. Instead of just standing there, why don't you do something useful, like changing the oil in my car?

Rule Eight
The following places are not appropriate for a date with my daughter: Places where there are beds, sofas, or anything softer than a wooden stool. Places where there are no parents, policemen, or nuns within eyesight. Places where there is darkness. Places where there is dancing, holding hands, or happiness. Places where the ambient temperature is warm enough to induce my daughter to wear shorts, tank tops, midriff T-shirts, or anything other than overalls, a sweater, and a goose down parka - zipped up to her throat. Movies with a strong romantic or sexual theme are to be avoided; movies which features chain saws are okay. Hockey games are okay. Old folks homes are better.

Rule Nine
Do not lie to me. I may appear to be a pot-bellied, balding, middle-aged, dim- witted has-been. But on issues relating to my daughter, I am the all-knowing, merciless god of your universe. If I ask you where you are going and with whom, you have one chance to tell me the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I have a shotgun, a shovel, and five acres behind the house. Do not trifle with me.

Rule Ten
Be afraid. Be very afraid. It takes very little for me to mistake the sound of your car in the driveway for a chopper coming in over a rice paddy near Hanoi. When my Agent Orange starts acting up, the voices in my head frequently tell me to clean the guns as I wait for you to bring my daughter home. As soon as you pull into the driveway you should exit your car with both hands in plain sight. Speak the perimeter password, announce in a clear voice that you have brought my daughter home safely and early, then return to your car - there is no need for you to come inside. The camouflaged face at the window is mine.

Weight Loss Journey

2009-11-11T20:49:00.003-05:00

I haven't done the best job with my weight loss over the past week and a half. I haven't gained any weight, but I know I haven't eaten like I'm supposed to.

I went to my family physician this morning for my lab work. My blood pressure has come down and he took me off of my blood pressure medicine!!! I am very proud of that!! I hope my cholesterol and liver enzymes have come down as well. Stay tuned for an update on those.

Now to get back on good eating habits.

CSMS Cheerleaders at Debbie Rogers Cheer Classic

2009-11-08T15:59:00.004-05:00

Wow. What a difference a month makes. Our girls did an awesome job yesterday at their final cheer competition. They changed several things in their routine and it made it soo much better. They tied for 7th place out of 15 teams. The two biggest accomplishments: 1. Not coming in last. 2. Beating their rival school-White Knoll Middle. Here are some highlights.

Rebecca is the second one on the floor.

Rebecca is the second one from the left on the floor

The proud parents with our girl

Rebecca and her sweet coach, Coach Steeper.

Rebecca and her friends

Alex and Rebecca checking out the competition

The score sheet with a happy coach and happy girls!!

Eric's mother was able to attend the competition. It was her birthday, so Eric drove over on Friday to get her. They drove to Columbia for the competition. She loved it. Then we took her out to eat at California Dreaming. They drove back home after the busy day.

Granna cheering on her baby girl.

Lunch at California Dreaming

The Great Pumpkin Contest

2009-11-04T20:52:00.002-05:00

Our family has entered The Great Pumpkin Contest that our realator has going on. Will you please go and vote for our cheerleader pumpkin? Rebecca came up with the idea (surprise, surprise) and she and I put it all together. Just click on the link below. Scroll about half way down until you see The Great Pumpkin Contest. We are Entry # 7.
Thanks!!
http://cindykidd.yourkwagent.com/

Halloween 09

2009-10-31T21:13:00.003-04:00

Rebecca decided to go trick-or-treating with a group of friends. We live in a gret neighborhood for trick-or-treating. They met at her friend,Lexi's house. They ate pizza and then were off. It was the first time we let her go by herself. They did great. She even had her boyfriend with her. They came home with a lot of loot.

Rebecca and Evan

Evan and Rebecca up close
The full picture

The Gang

Evan, Rebecca, Dillon, Savannah, Lexi, Hannah, and Jayne

The realator that sold us our house brought a pumpkin by the house last Sunday. Her real estate company is having a contest that she wanted us to participate in. We could do whatever we wanted with the pumpkin. She will be posting it on her real estate web site for people to vote on. If we win, we could win tickets to something. I don't even remember what all the choices were.

Rebecca came up with the idea to do a cheerleader. After seeing some creations that 4th graders did at my school, I came up with this idea. I'll let you know when you can vote.

25

2009-10-31T17:47:00.004-04:00

I finally hit 25 pounds. It has been 2 1/2 months since I started my new eating habits. I have basically just been cutting back on portions, cutting out junk, making healthier choices when I go out to eat, drinking a lot of water, and eating smaller meals 5-6 times a day. Here is the before picture:

And one taken this week by one of my students:

CSMS Cheerleaders at the Lake Murray Invitational

2009-10-25T22:00:00.002-04:00

The girls did it again. They worked hard all week changing a few things and polishing others. They looked great at the competition. Although they didn't place, they are making great improvements each week. Way to go, girls!!

PAC Invitational

2009-10-17T19:13:00.004-04:00

Rebecca competed in her first cheerleading competition today. The girls have worked really hard to get their routine. Because they worked so hard, their coach changed her mind about them competing. When we started the season, they were not going to be a competing squad.

The competition was held at Irmo High School and sponsored by a local gym. There were 4 squads in the "C team" (middle school) division. The CSMS cheerleaders were the first up and hit all of their stunts. We are so proud of them. Sadly, they came in 4th. We were all stunned. Rebecca was very upset, but said she had fun.

We'll get 'em next time, girls.

My friend, Doris, fixing Rebecca's hair in a sock bun.

Rebecca, Doris, and futuer CSMS cheerleader, Dionne

Rebecca and Lexi

Lexi, Carlye, Hannah, Rebecca, Natilee

Rebecca, Natilee, Taylor, Alex

Let's Go, Huskies. Huskies, Let's Go

2009-10-16T22:23:00.005-04:00

Tomorrow, Rebecca will compete in her first cheerleading competition. I helped 2 other moms make signs for the parents to hold up when our girls take the floor. I think they turned out really cute!!

Good luck girls. I know you'll do great!!

Happy Birthday to Me

2009-10-03T17:46:00.005-04:00

Today is my 44th birthday. I have begun to lose count of the years. Eric had to help with a bbq chicken plate fundraiser today, so we celebrated last night before the game. We all went to eat at Fatz Cafe. When we walked in the door, Eric told the manager that it was my birthday. Well...every couple of minutes, a new waitress/waiter would show up with a napkin to give me. They had written happy birthday on the napkin. It was pretty funny.

I splurged at dinner. I ate a sirloin(instead of a ribeye), baked potatoe, and a salad. It was delicious. I enjoyed every bite, since I have cut out almost all red meat. After dinner, the owner brought out their peach cobbler-my favorite at Fatz. Eric and I split it. It was so worth the cheating!!

Eric and Rebecca got me a stadium chair for all of Rebecca's ballgames. They also got me two new pair of SMALLER jeans and 2 Smaller shirts.

Thanks guys. I love you.

Varsity Game

2009-10-03T17:25:00.003-04:00

Friday night was WKHS homecoming. The varsity cheer coach asked Rebecca's squad to cheer the first quarter of the game. Because it was last minute, some girls already had plans, so there were only 14 girls cheering. They shuffled things around and still did a great job.

Rebecca didn't really want to do it. She wanted to socialize. : ). At first she thought it was for the entire game. When she found out it was only for the first quarter, she was okay with it.

Although the team lost, our girls looked great!!

My teaching assistant's oldest daughter was on the homecoming court. Here is Doris and her beautiful family.

Observing the pre-game activities

She's the one in the middle with ther arms up showing her spirit fingers

All smiles

Jumping for the t-wolves!

CSMS Cheerleading

2009-10-03T16:04:00.003-04:00

My favorite picture of the year!!

Rebecca made the middle school cheerleading squad back in the spring. She has worked hard all summer to get to the part we've all been waiting for...the games. Here are some highlights of different games.

Showing her pride

Hannah(One of my former students) and Rebecca

Rebecca and her boyfriend, Evan

Usually, Rebecca is a base. However, they had several girls not at practice the week before, so she got to be a flyer. She was scared and doesn't like that job very much.

Eric, Rebecca and her BFF, Lexi
She loves it and always has a smile on her face when she's out there cheering.

The Weight Loss Journey

2009-09-18T21:06:00.002-04:00

A month ago today, I started my weight loss journey. I was diagnosed with NASH liver disease and high cholesterol. I knew I had the cholesterol problem, but the NASH disease pushed me to finally do something about my weight.

I am not on a specific diet...just making healthier choices, cutting way back, drinking water, and cutting back on diet coke. I plan to begin my walking program on Monday.

To date...I have lost 15 pounds. I can tell in my clothes and when I see pictures of myself.
My goal..30 pounds by Christmas. I'll keep you posted.

Watermelon

2009-09-06T13:00:00.003-04:00

Early in the summer, Rebecca decided we needed to grow a watermelon plant. It started out in a container the size of a dixie cup.

Eric planted it in our flower bed and it has taken over the spot beside the patio.

Here is a baby watermelon:

Here's the big daddy of them all.

I noticed this morning that there are two more growing. Now if I only knew how to tell if they are ready to pick. I hope they tasted good.

First Day of School

2009-08-19T21:56:00.003-04:00

Rebecca started her 7th grade year today. It was a much calmer beginning that last year. She didn't have all of the bundled nerves. Just the attitude......Here she is in the clothes her Granna bought her for back to school:

As for me...I began my 23rd year of teaching. I am in kindergarten~my true love!! I had 17 shining faces come today. I have 19 on my roll, so I hope the other two show up. It was a typical first day of kindergarten. They came in very calm. The parents were great and helped unpack the kids bookbags. The highlight of the day was going for a hunt around the school to find Chester, the racoon, from the book The Kissing Hand. We met all of the related arts teachers, school nurse, and administrators along the way. Unfortunately, we were unable to find Chester. However, when we returned to the classroom, Chester had left us a kiss-of the Hershey nature. Yum Yum. I am happy to say that everyone made it home safely. 1 day down...179 to go.

Getting Ready for School

2009-08-17T07:09:00.004-04:00

It's that time of year. I love to see all of the new school supplies come out in July. I start my bargain shopping immediately. Rebecca has followed suit this year. She couldn't wait to go get her supplies. We took them up to her school last week and let her put them in her locker. Her friend, Hannah, went with us. They're big 7th graders this year, so they knew just what to do. Hannah couldn't get her locker open, so the school had to issue a different to her. It worked like a charm. They got busy and unloaded all of their things and got everything organized. (I wonder how long that will last?)

On their way in

Trying to open Hannah's locker

Setting it all up

Hannah deciding what to put in next

Waiting

I have a new principal this year. Beth is doing a great job. She had a back to school party for the teachers. The food was great and the entertainment even better. Eric even got roped into a fun game. Here's a short clip of the end of the fun.

Teen Clothes

2009-08-09T12:15:00.002-04:00

It's back to school time. Rebecca WANTS new clothes. She doesn't NEED new clothes. Aeropostle is having a Friends and Family sale this weekend. She is determined that she has to go and use the coupon. (Laugh mom, it's okay. I know it's a mini me.) I had her try on her jeans this morning. They all fit her perfectly. All 11 pairs. She tried to find one little thing wrong with each pair. I told her it wouldn't fly with me. She ended up with 9 pair. The good thing....they are not too long this year. She has grown over the summer and they fit her perfectly in the length. She thinks they are too short. I'm sure this is just the beginning of the clothing battle.

Friends

2009-07-27T18:26:00.003-04:00

I went to visit my friend, Ann, last week. Her husband, Ronnie, was away at a coaching clinic, Eric was working, and Rebecca was going away with a friend. I went by myself. It was nice to have a few days of "girl" time.

Ann and I went shopping in Wilmington on Wednesday. On Thursday, I went to visit a dear friend, Betsey, and her two children. They are growing so fast. It was great to visit with them. On my way back in town, I met Ann and some others for lunch. It was great to catch up with all of them. I went to see a former student, and then dinner at P.J.'s. YUMMY calzone!!!! On Friday, I went to Jacksonville and got my hair done. It was nice to have someone do it that really knows my hair. After hair, I was on my way home.

Here are a few pictures of my visit with Betsey.

Sarah coloring a picture of me

Gabriel and Sarah

Gabriel

Gabriel, Betsey, Me, and SarahThanks, Ann. I had an awesome time!!

Wow-Lucky Me

2009-07-27T18:17:00.002-04:00

A local tv station, WIS TV, does a Class Act drive for teachers to help them gain the supplies they need for their classroom. I posted a need for ipods for my listening center to enhance reading instruction for my kindergarteners. Imagine my surprise and delight when I received a response. A giving person donated 4 Sony MP3 players, 4 headphones, and a wall charger. My students will be so excited to use these fun tools for learning. Thank you M. Steele and WIS TV.

Camp Cheer Dance

2009-07-21T01:20:00.003-04:00

Here is the squad in action. Rebecca is on the far right in the back corner. They did a great job with their stunt. Sadly, this was the only thing we were able to observe our girls doing. They hid in the back of the group for the rest of the exhibition. : (

Cheer Camp

2009-07-18T08:43:00.003-04:00

Rebecca went to her first UCA cheer camp this week. They decided not to go away to one this year, but have UCA do a private camp for the two middle schools and high school in our area. She was very nervous that first day, but came home pumped up about what she was learning. Her favorite part was stunting. One of her friends said camp was just okay. She didn't like having to learn the cheers and dance. : )

I made each of the girls a goody bag. I went online for ideas of what to put in them. Each girl got:a personalized notepad, paw print pencil, flip flops, paw print suckers, a candybar with a special wrapper, bubbles, and a picture frame. I also personalized their bags.

Today is the last day of camp. The coach ordered special outfits to wear today, but there were some problems with them, so the girls wore their regular uniform. Here are some pictures of Rebecca before leaving:

Notice the cute flip flops and Levi looking out the window

I told her to strike a pose and this is what I got.

This is more like what I wanted

We get to go watch them at 1:00. I can't wait to see them in action!!

Jordan and Logan's Visit

2009-07-13T23:50:00.005-04:00

We followed tradition and had Jordan and Logan with us for a week. I think the onlly way we were able to get Logan here was the pool. He LOVED the pool. He was like a little fish swimming all over the pool and doing cannonballs after his Bubba. He especially enjoyed swimming at night with the girls.(Rebecca and two of her friends)

On Wednesday, the boys, Rebecca and I went to Monkey Joes. Jordan wasn't able to play, but Rebecca and Logan had a blast going up and over the inflatables.

That night, Eric came home from his trip to N.C. and we took the boys to eat Mexican and then bowling. It was the first time Logan had ever been bowling. He wanted a strike really bad. Every time it was his turn, he would bowl the first ball and turn around and say "I'll never get a strike. I've never had one in my whole life." It was so cute. One time, Eric tried rolling a ball right after Logans so that maybe the two of them would get a strike. Eric got in trouble from the worker at the desk. It was pretty funny. Sadly, Logan still didn't get a strike, but we had a good time.

Thursday, we had to run some errands. I took Jordan by one of his favorite places, a music store. I think he could spend hours in one.

Jennifer came on Friday. The girls went to the movie while Eric took the boys fishing. Logan caught a brim and a turtle. Jordan wasn't able to catch anything.

It was bittersweet at the end. I realized that this could be the last summer Jordan will come stay with me. He will be a senior this year. He says he'll come back next summer, but we'll see what the year brings.

It's a Small World

2009-07-09T08:54:00.002-04:00

I am a huge fan of Facebook. I love being able to reconnect with high school friends, college friends, and people from the different places I have lived. I have moved quite a bit in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.

Yesterday, I received a friend request from Shoni, someone I knew from college. As I was looking at her profile page, I noticed that we had several mutual friends. That didn't surprise me because they were people from college. However, there was one that DID surprise me. You see, Shoni lives in Georgia. The mutual friend is somone I know from living/teaching in South Carolina, Pamelia. Well, Pamelia and her family moved to Georgia about 7 years ago and she met Shoni through their sons. (Are you following this?) What are the chances of that happening?

When I sent Shoni a message about how she knew Pamelia, she called Pamelia immediately and Pamelia called me. Come to find out, Pamelia knows/works with one of my college roommates as well.

It truly is a small world.

Oh yeah, just in case you want to follow another storyline, here's another coincidence. When Pamelia and her family moved to Georgia, they moved to an area where I taught my very first year. I was right out of college and taught second grade. Pamelia's son, Logan(who I taught when he was in kindergarten), was going into the third grade. I called after the first day of school to see how it went. I was asking about his teacher and Pamelia said she was fresh out of college. I don't know what made me ask, but I asked what her name was. Come to find out, it was a girl that was in the very first class I taught. I felt very old!!

Blog Roll,

2009-07-08T00:25:00.002-04:00

My friend, Kristy, has started a new blog roll. It's all about Foodie Fridays. Go check out her explanation. Anyway... this week's topic is appetizers. So...here is an easy peasy lemon squeezy recipe:

Chili Dip
1 16 oz. cream cheese
1 can chilli
1 bag of shredded cheese

Flatten creme cheese in a microwavable dish. Pour can of chili on top of creme cheese. Spread cheese on top. Place in microwave for about 3 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Use tostitos or fritos to dip. Yummy!!