Ready for Summer

In my school district, the library media specialists have extended contracts. So my last day will be June 15th and I start back August 3rd. In July I have to take some professional development classes. So the summer goes by way too quickly.

I can't wait to spend time with Mary-Kate on my time off. She is taking gymnastics this summer. She started taking gymnastics last summer and she loved it. We went to gym all through the fall, winter, and spring.

I noticed a new business in town is opening up in June. It is a place to take your children to make and paint pottery, etc. I thought we might give that a shot. Not sure about the age requirement.

In July we are planning to take our parents and our little family to Gulf Shores. We wanted to show MK the beach. We are really excited about this trip.

I would love to enroll Mary-Kate in dance classes in the fall. She would probably like that most of all. Unfortunately the times are difficult to manage with me working.

At our church we don't have the Awana program, but that is something I would like to get MK involved with. I can already see our calendar filling up.

I read the Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. It had wonderful life lessons in it. One of the things he said was to build a child's self esteem, you have to get them involved in something that they are not naturally good at. With practice and discipline they can succeed. He basically said that is the best way to build a child's self esteem. I have seen that work with MK in gymnastics.

Growing up my mom enrolled me in all kinds of things to find my talent. We never found it. Ha! I took ballet, tap, jazz, piano, and baton (I was good at baton). I used to be the tallest kid in my class and then at 5 feet tall, I stopped growing (4th grade). My parents didn't really encourage me to play sports. Since I was so small, they didn't want to see me get hurt. Also, I am not the athletic type. I love sports, but would rather watch than play. But, Mary-Kate is that type, so I will have to learn about soccer, basketball, softball, and volley ball. I am glad I have a little time to learn about those sports.

What are your summer plans?

Kids Rooms

This week is show us where you live-kids room edition.
These pictures show only a clean room. Most of the time it doesn't look like this.

I had this made when Mary-Kate was a baby at a store called Over the Moon.

She loves to look at books and hear a good story.

A friend of mine gave us this doll house. She loves this!


My blogging friend Jessica made this for MK's room. It is so cute and unique!

A friend of mine, Julie from the Dandylion store made the polka dots for me!


My mother-in-law painted the picture! I think it is great. I can't draw straight with a ruler!

I haven't done much with the curtains.


Hope you enjoyed the tour!

MEMPHIS

What can I say! We had the best overnight stay in Memphis, TN. It is a 3 hour one way trip from where we live. Mary-Kate was the best passenger! Thank goodness for movies in the car. (We didn't have this luxury when I was a kid. We had to suffer on long car trips. Ha!) We had the best time at the zoo. The weather was nice, not too hot. We saw lots of animals. Rode some rides. It was really fun. We stayed in Germantown. Our hotel was near a lot of shopping malls. After our trip to the zoo we came back to the hotel and rested a bit. We ate at a Japanese steakhouse. It was great! Then for the shopping. My one errand girl, really got into this. For dinner and shopping, she was wearing a cute navy top and white with big navy polka dot pants. The ladies in the store told her that she was so cute! She said, "Thank you" and then blew them a kiss. What a ham, I tell you. I am so glad she had fun. She didn't have to wear the monkey backpack. She held our hands the whole time. She told me she had to hold my hand, "so I wouldn't get lost." Very thoughtful! Ha!

I hope you enjoy the pictures!


WHAT A NEAT ENTRANCE


MK AND ME


MK AND DADDY


MK SAID,"THAT IS SOME TURTLE."


NORTHWEST PASSAGE


PANDA


MK SHOWING US THE BABY ZEBRAS


DON'T YOU JUST FEEL LIKE THIS SOMETIMES! HA!


ONE OF THESE ELEPHANTS IS HAVING A BABY IN ABOUT 2 WEEKS. THE FIRST EVER TO BE BORN AT THE MEMPHIS ZOO


MK AND HER HORSE


MK AND THE CANOE


A BEAR



We saw much more! It is a great zoo and I would definitely recommend it for little ones.

Blake

This is a picture taken of my brother in 2005 doing what he loved best!
He was a police officer in Ft. Worth, TX. He also was a professional fisherman.
He refereed football games, too. I love this picture. I was just sent this picture today and had never seen it before!

We're Going to the ZOO

This weekend we are taking Mary-Kate to the Memphis Zoo. We have been to the Little Rock Zoo and the Ft. Worth Zoo with her and she loved it. She loves animals so much. Now that she is a little older, she will like it even more. I have heard that Memphis has a great zoo, so we are really excited.

We also want to take in the Children's Museum.



If we can get in some shopping that would be awesome! I am just so excited to have a 3 day weekend and spend time with my favorite people. I hope you have an awesome weekend! I'll let you know how the trip goes. To be continued.....

FYI: I finished the inventory in 2 and 1/2 days. I feel great having that behind me. I can coast a little next week. Thanks Sheri!

Whew!

This weekend was wild.

We had

Decoration

a Baby Shower

a High School Graduate's open house

a High School Graduation.

MK got to spend time with both sets of grandparents this weekend.

MK LOVES HER PAWPAW

Since it was sunny, she had fun outside too. She is my outside girl. I missed getting a picture of her soccer and basketball goals. Those are also her favorite things.

MK LOVES HER CLUBHOUSE

WHAT IS SHE GOING DO WITH THAT?

LOVES PICNICS ON THIS TABLE

This week at work, I have to scan 14, 000 materials with a hand held scanner. I am tired just thinking about it.

My dad had another stent done today on his heart! We are so blessed that he didn't have to have by-pass surgery. I can't brag on him enough. He has done so well with the previous procedure. I know that he will feel even better with this one. His stents are holding up nicely. His color looks good. He is walking better. He doesn't fall. He is as clear as a bell with his thinking. I am glad that we finally know what his problem has been. It has been like finding a needle in a haystack. (And yet so obvious now.)

We went to LR tonight to see my dad. He looked great. After we left, they had him up walking. He will come home tomorrow!

Catch Up

I need to play blog catch up! It has been awhile since I have posted anything. This time of year is nothing, but busy. The weather has been terrible. It rains all of the time. We had some sunshine today and I almost forgot what that looked like.

Last week at my school we had a big fundraiser to raise money for Relay for Life.

Teachers and students could pay $10 to go for 2 hours to our town's soccer complex to walk or run relays. We raised $4,000. It was so awesome! I ran with some of the kids. They thought that was neat. They think all I do in my free time is read books! ( I am a librarian.)

This weekend is wild! We have a Decoration to attend. This will be difficult. I am used to decorating my grandparents' graves, but not my brother's. On Sunday, I have a baby shower, an Open House, and a High School graduation to attend.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Fun Weekend

On Friday night, my parents came over and watched MK. Thara and I went out to eat and then went to Lowes. I picked out a flower arrangement that I wanted. I got a unique flower basket for my mom too.




We have decoration next Saturday. I think it is a Southern thing. Families of the loved ones buried in the cemeteries get together and have a service. We sing. There is always a speaker. You place flowers on your loved ones graves. Then we eat a huge potluck lunch. The week before, we go out to the cemetery for a major clean up. (Yard work, etc.) On Saturday, I woke up very early and went out to the cemetery where my brother Blake is buried. I didn't want my parents to have to worry with cleaning up. My mom did come with a rake and broom. Some of the people showed up with weed eaters. I brought rags. I wiped off all of the monuments. I helped rake. Picked weeds. Hopefully it will be a nice next weekend and not rain.

Thara and Mary-Kate went shopping for my Mother's Day gift. So I went shopping too, by myself. My mom wanted to buy me a new outfit. So I hit the jackpot at Cato. I bought some new Capri's, a pair of jeans, and some shoes. After that, I met Thara and Mary-Kate for lunch. He took her back home and I went for a pedicure. The gal talked me into this. It is growing on me.







Last night, Thara and MK made a healthy mother's day cake for me. It is a pudding drop cake. You use white cake mix and applesauce instead of oil and sugar free pudding for icing.








This morning, MK woke me up to say, "Happy Mudder's Day." She gave me her present. It was lotions and bath gel from Bath and Body Works. She also gave me a plant and card she made at school. My husband got me perfume.





After church, we had my parents over for steaks, sweet potatoes, and that awesome cake. It was a wonderful weekend. Not because of the presents, but just spending time together and not having a time table to have to be somewhere was wonderful!

Happy Mother's Day to My Mom and Mother-In-Law

I am blessed. I have a wonderful Mom who loves me and a wonderful Mother-In-Law who loves me. These women are awesome.

My mother is one of the strongest women I know. She has been educating children for 35 years. She still loves it and she is still good at what she does. She is still in love with my dad. She calls me everyday. We work together too. Often we get to each lunch together. It is really fun. She is my BFF now. When I was growing up she was the parent. Now that I am a parent, she can be my BFF she says. She loves me, but y'all she is crazy about my Mary-Kate!






My mother-in-law treats me like I am one of her own. When I picked out my wedding dress, I asked her to come with me to have it altered. The seamstress had not been very nice to me the time before. The dress I chose had to have a zipper replaced. It was broken before I tried it on. My mother-in-law listened to this woman give me a hard time. She said that I had to have gained weight for my dress to be so tight in the back. My mother-in-law told her that if when she replaced the zipper and had not removed so much fabric around it, I would still fit in it. (See my mother-in-law sews.) She had my back! Ha! When I had Mary-Kate she stayed with me the first week. We lived very close to each other. She would come over every morning when my husband went to work and stay until he came home. I had a c-section and she was very worried about me. She didn't want me to do very much. She folded clothes, cooked, sterilized bottles, you name it. I'll never forget what she did for me. And she too is crazy about Mary-Kate.






No Love like a Mother's Love

There is no love, like a mother's love,
no stronger bond on earth...
like the precious bond that comes from God,
to a mother, when she gives birth.

A mother's love is forever strong,
never changing for all time...
and when her children need her most,
a mother's love will shine.

God bless these special mothers,
God bless them every one...
for all the tears and heartache,
and for the special work they've done.

When her days on earth are over,
a mother's love lives on...
through many generations,
with God's blessings on each one.

Be thankful for our mothers,
for they love with a higher love...
from the power God has given,
and the strength from up above.
by Jill Lemming**

Show Us Where You Live-Living Rooms

I love this entertainment center. We got it on sale at Dillard's a couple of years ago. It has side compartments for dvds. It masks the clutter. I haven't decorated the top yet, but I had a lot of ideas as to what I want to do with it.



My husband and I got this sofa and big chair when we got married. I love the coffee table. It came from Pier 1.

This drop leaf table belonged to my great-grandmother. The chairs belonged to my grandmother. I used it for a dining table for a long time.

This area I love. It captures my little one's chair and her love for drawing.

Thanks for stopping by!