And a bow to match....

So I ordered two adorable outfits for my fake niece, Tenley. You can see them in the post below! Girls are so fun to spoil. They have such cute outfits! Since one of her new shirts says "I like big bows and I cannot lie", I decided she needed a new bow to wear with it! And of course, it had to be big. (Just like her mama likes them!) So today, I tackled my first little girl bow. I think it turned out horrible, but I figured I would share anyway!

However, it will have to do for now. Maybe I'll make a better one later! I'm already looking up ways to make it better- I just found a really cool way to make a bow that I may try later this week! We shall see. For now, this will have to do!

Big Bows

I am really hoping that Tiffany doesnt read my blog! I ordered this outfit for Tenley! I think it's so perfect for her! Pink, zebra, and about bows! I'm giving it to her over spring break. A girl I went to high school with made it! Isn't it adorable??!

This is the other onesie that I ordered for her as well. Isn't it cute too?? I can't wait to give them to her over spring break!!!

California knows how to party!

I haven't done a "meet _____ monday" in a loooong time! So today I am going to do a "Meet _____ Thursday!" Here is today: meet Betsy!

 This girl cracks me up! She is seriously one of my favorite people in this world. Simply hilarious! I met Betsy my junior year of college. We were in the same block, which meant we had all of our education class together.

 Betsy is from California- she grew up outside of San Francisco. She lived in Alabama for two years during elementary school and then came back for college! I'm so glad that she did because my college life would have been quite boring without her!

 Betsy and I have shared many laughs and giggles through the years. She is that friend that I can just look at, know what she is thinking, and bust out laughing!

 After college graduation, Betsy moved back to California and I moved to Texas. It was so sad to leave each other! We went from seeing each other every day to only seeing each other once since graduation! Betsy now teaches 4th grade in California. I teach 4th grade in Texas, so we always have fun stories to share! Our classes have even been pen pals!

 For the past two summers, I have tried to plan a trip to go see Betsy.  Two summers ago I ran out of time, last year just didn't work out either. I kept saying I was going to book a flight, but I never did! I've wanted to for so long though. Not only would I get to see Betsy, but I'd get to spend a week in my favorite city!

 So, tonight.... I did it! I booked my flight. I will be in the beautiful city of San Francisco July 12th-July 19th. I cannot wait! AH! A week with Betsy and in California!! I can't wait!

I also get to see my halirously funny cousin Catherine who lives there, and my precious Moho who lives there as well! July 12th, hurry up and get here!!!

Writing TAKs

Ever since I found out I was moving to Farine and teaching 4th grade, I have been dreading the writing TAKs test. Now, it's basically here. We have three days left until the big test! My kids are currently working on their last prompt before the big test. I conferenced with several of them today on how they could make their stories better- and most of them were already so good! The prompt this week is "Write a composition about something you are getting better at." One of my students decided to write like she was a dog in a dog show and how she was getting better at all of her tricks! It is so precious!! Maybe I will share some of them this weekend while I'm grading. Some of them have such great stories! However, I am so ready to be done with prompt writing and writing TAKs. I have lots of fun things planned for writing time once we are finished!! Only three more days!! :) :)

Monday Mumbles

Today felt like the longest day ever. I think it's because the entire day I was thinking "I should be at home in my pajamas right now." All that dang ice & snow we had a few weeks ago took away our off day today. So.Totally.Lame. However, I am thankful at the same time because it gave us an extra day before writing TAKs.

Which, by the way, is one week from tomorrow. AGH! I'm so ready for it to be over with. It's the thing I've been dreading ever since the day I found out that I had to teach 4th grade. And it's almost done! Hallelujah!

Today, Holly and I discovered Gigi's Cupcakes. Ohmyword. They were scrumpcious! My friends in Tuscaloosa have been telling me all about the one there. I googled it, and it turns out one just opened in Dallas in December... and it's 5 minutes from my apartment. (which is very, very bad!) For those of you that don't know, Dallas is like the king of cupcake bakeries. I feel like I could safely say there is 20 within 15 miles of my apartment, if not more. But Gigi's?? They were heavenly. And huge. Holly and I split one! And we have three more in a box in the kitchen. We had the Chocolate Salted Caramel one today:

 De.Light.Ful. If you live in Tuscaloosa or Auburn and you're reading this, go try it now! If you're in Dallas and want to try it, you just let me know- I'm always up for a good cupcake! :)

Anywho, this was basically a random post! And since I'm the queen of countdowns, here is my life in countdown version:
7 Days until Writing TAKS
11 Days until Sister Hazel with 8 of my best friends
17 days until Spring Break in PCB with my favorites!

I wanna tell everybody, everybody.....

that you're so much more than they've ever even seen before!

My favorite band in the whole entire world consists of these 5 men:

SISTER HAZEL! Like, I'm obsessed. My friends make fun of me. I'm always buying CD's and jamming in my car. When I lived in Alabama, I saw them nine times in concert in a matter of three years. When I moved to Dallas, I was shocked that hardly anyone knew who they were and that they rarely, rarely played in or near the Dallas area. I've lived here a year and a half and they have only been here once. Unfortunately, I wasn't even able to go then. So I am having withdrawals and haven't seen them in concert in almost two years!

However, they will be gracing this place:

House of Blues- Dallas on March 4th! Two weeks from Friday! None of my friends here have ever seen them in concert and most of them have never heard them! I just burned them all CDs and we bought tickets online! I cannot wait to introduce my Sister Hazel love to Katie, Scott, Kirk, Matthew, Sarah, Stephanie, and Ty! We are going to have a rocking time. 12 MORE DAYS!!!!

One month

Today is one month since my sweet pawpaw went to Heaven. This past month has been filled with memories of him. I find myself randomly tearing up when I think about him being gone. I think the thing that makes me the most sad is thinking about how he won't be spending Christmas mornings with us. He has been at every single Christmas morning since I was a little kid. There were some years where he would even spend the night on Christmas Eve. Both he and my mom were such big parts of my Christmas memories, and Christmas will be so different without both of them. However, I was blessed with 23 years of him in my life. And I constantly remind myself that he is in heaven with his Savior and I am stuck on Earth. He is the one who should feel sorry for me! That is such truth.

The last time I saw my pawpaw was on Christmas morning. I went downstairs after waking up, and he was sitting at the kitchen counter. He stood up to give me a side hug, but something in me made me give him a full on, long hug. He kissed me on the cheek and told me he loved me. When he was leaving, I again gave him a long hug. I remember thinking as I hugged him about how much I missed seeing him and how I didn't want him to leave yet. Now that I look back on it, it makes me think that maybe God was showing me not to take this time with him for granted and to give him a real hug. As he walked out the door, all of us grandkids yelled at him how much we loved him, and then we waved goodbye. If only we had known it was for the last time.

Anyway, I wrote this the night he passed away. I had originally planned to share it at his funeral. The next day, I decided it was too long and too much to share, so I shortened it. In the end, I decided not to speak at all. I knew that after listening to my younger brother, sister, and sweet little cousin speak about my Pawpaw, that I wouldn't be able to do it without tears. However, I still want a place to save the words that I wrote about him, so I decided to do that here. So, this is for you Pawpaw....

Ronnie was a lot of things to a lot of people, but to me he was my beloved pawpaw. He was always a man of few words, at least around me. I remember when I was little, I would just curl up with him and watch TV. We rarely talked much during those times, but his arms were some of the safest I knew.

He loved Alabama football, and I think that is where I get my love for it from. I remember spending hours upon hours in his Alabama room at his house and just looking at all of the different things he had in that room. I learned more about Alabama’s history while in that room than I did on it’s campus years later. I would ask what each piece was and why it was important. In that room I learned about our national championships, Big Al, and the Bear. I’m pretty sure he is the man who taught me how to say “Roll Tide.”- Out of his few words, those were words that were spoken often.

My pawpaw had a huge heart. If you ever, ever needed anything done, he was the one to do it in a heartbeat. One summer, my sister and I were moving from a house to an apartment. We needed to borrow his trailer to move, so he came on down to Tuscaloosa. My dad was running waaaay late, and pawpaw didn’t want to wait on him—my pawpaw loaded up our ENTIRE house on that trailer in under two hours. (Which if you know Holly and I, is a LOT of stuff. We are known for keeping everything we have ever owned!) My dad got to the house and it was literally done. I’m sure it wore him out, but he never once complained. In fact, a week later when it was time to unload it off the trailer and put it in the apartment, he was back to do it all over again. He never once complained, even though we did it all in the heat of July. That’s just the kind of man he was.

One summer my sister, younger brother, cousin, and me decided to go visit our aunt in Florida. Pawpaw was not going to miss a week at the beach with his daughter and 4 of his grandkids. He hopped in his truck and drove the 12 hours to Daytona Beach. We played board games all week, watched TV together, walked the beach, and just talked. He even treated the girls to a day of shopping. He ended every night sitting in his chair, reading a western book. The following spring break, my brother, cousin, and an exboyfriend went down for another week, and he joined us again. Those two weeks are the most time I’ve spent with my grandfather in a consecutive time in years. Those two weeks are weeks that I will always remember and always cherish. It was so evident that he just wanted to spend time enjoying his grandchildren, and we loved spending the time with him.

After my uncle died, he started going back to church. I remember when he called and told me about it all, I could just hear the difference in his voice. One week he called me and asked if I would come to church with him the next Sunday- I was honored to join him. That Sunday I loaded my younger brother and two younger cousins in the car, and we drove up to go to church with him. I’ve never seen a prouder smile on his face than when he introduced us to his church. I remember the day our entire family went up there when he was ordained as a deacon. The tears in his eyes taught me so much about a man who loves his God and his family. I’ve never seen him more humble or more proud than he was at that very moment.

During college, my pawpaw sent my sister and me a card every single month. He never missed a month. Like I said earlier- he was a man of few words- and each month the card would say something really simple- “Be good- Love you- PaPa”, “Study hard- love you- papa”, “Hope you’re having fun-love you-papa” or even just“I love you-Papa”. But those cards meant so much to me. I hung them on my fridge every month and they would stay there until the next one came. Those cards showed me and reminded me that he loved us, even if he didn’t always know how to put it into words.  I’d call him once or twice a month, and our conversations were pretty much the same- “I’ve been good, the tide is looking good, I love you.” Few words, but so many meanings behind them. And now, here I am, not really knowing how to put into words how I feel about this man and all of the lessons he taught me and just how much I loved him- so I am going to try to be a little bit like my pawpaw right now, and I am going to be a woman of few words. I will let my words be few, and his memories be big, because the memory of that man will never leave any of us. So to my pawpaw- “Be good, hope you’re having fun, and I love you. I’ll never, ever forget your big heart, your gentle spirit, and your love for family. Roll Tide, Pawpaw. Roll Tide.”

I love you, Pawpaw. 

Blog Award

My dear friend, Erin, over at Fleur de lis and Football gave me a blog award! Thanks, dear! :) Erin is one of my dear friends from college- we survived the college of education together and even had fun along the way! I love reading her blog and being able to keep up with what is going on in her life.

So this is how it works:
1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Award 8 recently discovered great bloggers.
4. Contact the bloggers and let them know about the award.

Seven Things about ME!
1. I teach 4th grade in a district right outside of Dallas, Texas. I have 17 little munchkins that make life super interesting! They are so funny and I love watching them learn and grow.
2. I absoutely love being crafty. It's what I do when I'm bored. I love to paint, make headbands, cricut anything and everything, along with other things. My next big purchase will be a sewing machine!
3. I hate, hate, hate lasagna. My mom cooked it every single Sunday for years, and now I just can't eat it. I also ate spaghetti!
4. One of my favorite things in the whole world is reading a book aloud to my students. I love the way they get so into it. My favorite part of this is when we get to a really good part, and I suddenly stop reading. I love hearing them beg for me to read more. I guess it's because I love watching my students discover the joy of reading! (I totally just sounded like a geeky teacher... yikes!)
5. Everything is more fun when you do it with someone else. I hate being alone, and I always want a friend around! Even if we are just watching TV. I very rarely spend me time... because I hate me time! I'd much rather share life with someone else.
6. The definition of a perfect day for me would be laying on the beach with several friends around, a book in one hand, and a margarita in the other. Is it time for summer yet?
7. I absoutely postively LOVE to drive. I know, it's weird. Whenever it's time for a roadtrip, I take the wheel and just go. I don't know why, but it calms me and I think it's peaceful. What is better than driving down the road with a car full of your girlfriends jamming out to the old boy band CDs? Oh, that's right. Nothing.
Eight Bloggers that I'm Tagging:
Krista at HopeInTheWating- She is so real and honest and it's so refreshing! I love her blog!
Abby at BabblingAbby- Her blog is hysterical! If you are a teacher, you have to keep up with her. Her family is adorable as well!
Heather at Mom of the Twinkies & Tot!- I love reading about her adorable twin girls and her life as a teacher!
Kelly at Kelly's Korner- How can you not love this blog? She is so real and honest about everything. I love her "Show us your life" Fridays as well!
Adrienne at Another Ordinary Miracle- I have loved watching her premie baby grow bigger and healthier!
Amy at My Amazeing Journey- she adopted a beautiful little girl from China and it has been so fun reading about how they bond!
Rachel at Moments with my Miracles- She lives in Tuscaloosa and I love reading about her three kids!
Alethea at I'm Domestic Not Dead- she is an amazing writer and so fun to read! Always get a good laugh!
I hope you enjoy reading my 8 Blog Award Winners!! :)

Favorite Fake Aunt

My brother got married almost two years ago, and I am not ashamed to admit that I've been begging for a niece/nephew ever since! (Probably even before!) I just love babies, and can't wait to have my own niece or nephew to spoil. My aunt spoiled me rotten when I was a kid, and I can't wait to do the same to him/her whenever I get one! Unfortunately, they want to wait a little bit longer to have a kid. (I keep telling them 9 months is plenty long, but they don't listen!) Anyway, since God knew I wasn't getting a real niece or nephew anytime soon, He blessed me with THREE fake nieces/nephews since August. And what kind of (fake) aunt would I be if I didn't brag on them a little bit?

My first fake nephew was born in August. He just turned 6 months last week! I can't believe it's already been so long. I hate that his parents took him away to Alabama, but I love watching him play and giggle on Skype, and I can't wait to see him in 3 1/2 weeks! Here is little Charlie man:

Ohmygosh! Those chubby cheeks get me every time. I love that baby boy so much!!

Then my sweet little tiny Tenley arrived in October. I was so excited to get a (fake) niece! She is simply beautiful. I know I'm partial, but you also have to admit she is beautiful! Look at those blue eyes! Ohmygosh! And yes, the bows are darling. I actually ordered her a onesie last week that fits her perfectly- it says "I like big bows and I cannot lie"... ha! It comes with matching pants. I'll post pictures when it arrives! Isn't she gorgeous?

She is breathtaking.

And in November, little Braxton arrived! He is adorable! At first I thought he looked more like his dad, but with each passing day I think he looks more and more like his beautiful momma! He is the sweetest little thing. He is the only one of the three that actually lives close, but because of work and other things I don't get to see him often! I can't wait until this summer when I can play with him whenever I want to! (Get ready for it Bonnie!!) He is so cute too, right??

Oh, how these three have stolen my heart! Babies are such a gift. And I love my fake niece and nephews! They are the backgrounds on my phone and always make me smile when I'm sad. Until I have my own real nieces and nephews, I will love these guys! Heck, I will love them long after my real ones come along too!!

Dear Charlie, Tenley, and Braxton--- your favorite fake aunt Heather loves you all so much! Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's

Happy Valentine's Day! I started my day with chickfila breakfast being brought to the apartment! How can a day not be good when it starts with a chicken biscuit and a large Dr Pepper being delivered to your bedroom door? I have high hopes for today after the way it began! I'm spending my day with 17 little munchkins that I love! I have missed being in a classroom with them, and I am pumped about spending this week with them. Kind of scary, but true! I love teaching and have missed it over the past two weeks!

After school I am coaching DI, followed by a stop at the bank, dinner with Ty, and ice cream for Sarah's birthday! I hope you all enjoy your day of love!  Happy V-Day, ya'll!

Busy, Busy Bee!

It has been a crazy, crazy week. I spent the week in Austin learning about prezis, book trailers, powerpoint foldables, doc cameras, ipad apps, 21st century learning skills, and oodles of more technology stuff. It was a lot of fun, but a lot of information! I can't wait to implement it all in my classroom.

Since I was gone all week, that equaled a weekend full of catch up work! But before I could work, I spent Saturday night celebrating the birth of my dear friend, Sarah. I baked a delicious cake (photos to come later), and we all went to dinner and then danced to MJ all night. It was so nice to be back in Dallas with my gang of friends! I enjoyed myself. Saturday I spent most of the day in my classroom working. I got so much done! Then I came home and worked on my presentation for my middle school interview (which is Friday at 4!). Last night I babysat the two CUTEST kids in Dallas- Jack and Lucy. They were simply adorable! And I came home to an apartment full of friends hanging out again, which I love. Today was church, followed by a completely lazy day at the apartment. All in all, I'd call this a successful weekend!

Please pray for me this next week. We only have 11 school days until writing TAKS and I'm extremely stressed out. I'm so ready for it to be over with, but at the same time I'm scared to death. Then Friday after school I have my middle school interview, and I'm really stressed out about that as well. I keep telling myself that it's in God's hands. Where ever He wants me next year is where I will be! It is still stressful. Saturday I will be at a DI competition all day- it's the competition for the team I've been coaching all year. I'm not sure if they are ready, but it's here, and we're going. AH! It will be a very busy week and I'm already stressed out about it!

I'm currently counting down the days until spring break! I cannot wait to spend a week at the beach. It will be especially fun because 3 of my best friends from Dallas are going, as well as 2 of my best friends from college and little tiny Tenley! And Lacey and Charlie are driving down for a day as well since they live so close. I absolutely cannot wait to spend a week at the beach with these ladies! Only a few more weeks.... here goes nothing!!!

Also, happy valentine's day to all you love birds out there! :)

Misael

First off, I want to start out by saying that I am a teacher in a district outside of Dallas, Texas. Also, we have permission to share this student's stories, so I am not violating any privacy laws.

On January 13, 2011 our school had early dismissal. During the craziness of our dismissal, there was an accident involving one of our first grade students. He was run over by a car and his mother was pinned between that car and another car. His name is Misael and he is still in the hospital. He has had multiple surgeries. His brain had fluid on it, and they have tried to do surgery but can't find a way that will work. He has tubes in his brain draining the fluid. Once he can finally be released from the hospital, he will spend quite a while in a rehab facility that is quite expensive. He will need this rehab in order to improve. His mother has also had to have multiple surgeries on her leg and ankle. The family's insurance ran out weeks ago, and they are going to have a massive hospital bill. Our school has been working hard to raise money! We have had a program called "basketball for our buddy" which is similar to jump rope for heart. The students raised their own money and then had a celebration where they shot basketballs. We have sold lolligrams (sucker and card) for Valentine's Day, as well as many other small projects. The students raised $18,000!!! It is a huge amount for little kids to raise, but there is still much more that little Misael's family will need.

The teachers at my school have been challenged to raise the same amount of money as the students did! We hope to raise more. If you are interested in donating, you can go to our school's PTO online donation site. You can donate any amount here! All donations are tax-deductable. If you have any questions, please let me know! Help us raise money to help this sweet little boy's family.

Forgetting the routine...

Remember when I posted about routine? Yea, I've pretty much given up on that idea! With the four days off last week due to ice and snow, that ruined the idea of routine. And now I'm about to get on the road and head to Austin with two co-workers for 3 1/2 days of conferencing at TCEA. Routine? What's that? Because I definately don't remember.


PS. It's suppose to snow again tonight in Dallas. Thank Goodness I will be in Austin and not dealing with more snow!!!

Snowed in this time....

They canceled school again last night. Then the weather people predicted a "dusting" of 1 inch of snow last night. Yea, we woke up to at least six. OH... and more snow will be here any time now. Holy cow.


All over the news is "what are they going to do about the super bowl?!?".... I find it quite funny. Oh, Dallas is going to make soooo much money because of the super bowl!  BAM ICE! BAM SNOW!

Here are some pictures of the dogs morning walk. The snow was really dusty like and was easy for them to run through. They loved it! If their bodies weren't so little, I would have let them play for longer!

You can barely even see them!

Julio didn't know what to think!

The river behind our apartment!

snow!

I would much rather be snowed in than iced in. It's just so much prettier! Now to only hope that we don't run out of food.... we might be walking to Target later!! AH!

My plan for today is to get my sub plans for next week done. I need to be focused and get it done! Here's to hoping....

Day 4

Day 4 of being iced in tomorrow. Ohdearlord. AND it's suppose to snow again tonight. Oh goodness....

At least tomorrow I can finally do sub plans for next week. I'm just going to take my plans for this week and use them next week!

I hate this weather. Is it spring yet?

Day 3

Day 3 of being iced in will be tomorrow. Ohmyword.


Thank goodness I have friends who braved the ice for a slumber party tonight. I was going crazy without socialization!

Closing... Again

School is closed again tomorrow. Yet another day taken away before writing TAKs.
DO NOT FREAK OUT, DO NOT FREAK OUT.


At least I can get that checklist from today finished...

Dear Ice, GO AWAY.

Bedroom Re-do!

Here I posted about yellow rooms that I was in love with. And I got to thinking... why should I not re-do my room? I'm young and can afford it right now, so I thought, hey, why not! And off I went. And here I talked about my inspiration lamp for the bedroom and how I re-did it. Well, I am putting the finishing touches on my re-done bedroom! Here are pictures to prove it:

I'm a little obsessed with how it turned out! 

It was my friend, Katey, 's idea to add the yellow quilt to the bottom of the bed. She said it would add color to the all black bed (so my bedframe is black, too) and I agree.... I love it!

I re-did a smaller lamp for my dresser. My room doesn't have overhead lights, so lamps are essential! This one matches the other one I did!

This one shows the accents on the new bedspread a little bit better. It has frilly swirls... you still can't really tell in this picture, but I LOVE it!

I painted these frames to match... I'm not sure if I like it though because I think they blend into the wall. I may re-paint them back to black!

I got two of these baskets from Target and they match so well! This one holds my shoes that I'm wearing that week.... Julio lovesss to chew up my shoes, so I put them in this basket so that he can't get them! The other one holds whatever other junk would otherwise be on the floor. Hopefully these will help me stay organized! 

I got that yellow basket from Target as well. I bought two of them. This one holds my bible, bible study, any other books I'm reading, my TV remotes, and my extension cord for my phone and laptop! The other one sits on my dresser and holds all my TV Series DVDS!

I think for the most part I'm done with my room re-do. I love it! And I didn't spend much money on it either. It adds the color that I've been lacking in my room, and I love that it's yellow! :) What do you think?