Time Out

After such a busy week, I feel like I need a time out! I was away from school two days this week doing FBLA testing in the surrounding schools. And no, I didn't get stuck in the mud anymore! It's nice to be away from school every now and then, especially since we always make sure to eat a nice lunch somewhere, but I pay for it when I get back to work because there's a ton of catching up to do!

The real point of this post, however, is this photo. Luke had a little time-out this morning, and when Tracy went to get him, this is what he found. I knew I had to get a picture, so I hurried and grabbed my camera, and was able to snap this before he realized we were there. Isn't he pitiful? He was a better boy afterwards though!

Stuck

In the mud.

Now some might say I am a "stick in the mud" but today, I was stuck in the mud!

I had it all planned. I was not going to be at school today or tomorrow, because I had (have) to go to the other schools in my FBLA district and administer the objective test portion of their competitions. However, this morning I realized that probably needed a copy of a file that is on my laptop at school. I really had not planned to go by school this morning, because it seems like once you get there, you always get tied up with something, especially when you're in a hurry to leave and get somewhere else! So I decided I would park at the side door, slip in to my room, print my file, and the slip out.

Now, you have to understand that there's no "real" parking at our side door. However, there is a big grassy area, and I've pulled up there before if I had a lot of things to unload from my vehicle or just need to run in for a minute.

But not when we've had 6 inches of rain the week before.

I had no trouble on the way in. I hurried in to my room, printed my file, and was on my way. Until I started up the ever so slight incline to get out....and then I felt my truck getting stuck. Fortunately, I had enough sense NOT to keep trying to get out on my own, spinning my wheels, and getting bogged down deeper. However, I was on a tight schedule...I HAD to get out of there! My first thought is that I would ask the ag teacher to pull me out, but that would entail him getting out the tractor, driving it all the way around the building, hooking it up to my vehicle, etc. I didn't have time for that. My dear friend and next-door neighbor (at school) suggested I just take her car, and maybe the mud would have dried enough by this afternoon for me to get out. I really hated to leave my vehicle stuck. So I got a couple of my students to go round up some other boys and ask if they would try to push my truck out. Then if that didn't work, I knew some of those kids had four-wheel drive trucks and could pull me out. Let me just say that we have the best students in the world at my school. Those boys were so willing to help me out. Long story short, they decided to push my vehicle backwards (back down the incline...they're smart, too!), and then I could just jump the curb and be on my merry way. Made it to the first testing site right on time. Not early, like I had planned, but right at starting time.

Sure, our students are like all other teenagers are sometimes...they get bad attitudes, or don't feel like doing their work, but when it comes to helping other people, they are always willing to do whatever is needed. Today I appreciate that quality more than ever! Looks like I'll be baking a big pan of chocolate chip gooey butter cakes tomorrow night....:-)

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We took a little trip this weekend. I had a school-related meeting out of town on Saturday and Sunday, so on Friday, my "entourage" and I hit the road. On Saturday morning we visited with my Uncle Mikey and Aunt Frances, as well as some cousins. We did a little singing, a lot of talking, and had a nice lunch together before my meeting. Then while I was in meetings Saturday night, Tracy and Matthew went to the monster truck show. Matthew has always wanted to go to a monster truck show, and luck would have it that Monster Jam was in town! He had a ball and has already asked if we can go back next year! He doesn't understand they're not always in the same time at the same place every year!

That's all from here. I hope the rest of the week is very dull compared to this morning! Have a great week, my friends!

I've Got Nothin'

That seems to describe my blogging lately. I'm having a terrible time figuring out what to blog about. Since the holidays, we haven't had anything really interesting going on. We've been going to school, playing a little basketball, and doing lots of just staying home trying to stay warm! I'm glad we've gotten a break from the bitterly cold weather over the last few days! Anyway, I will think about a post, and then decide, "Nah, nobody wants to read about our boring day-to-day happenings!" But then I remember that I actually enjoy reading about your day-to-day experiences, so I figure at least I could post a few pictures.

This little guy has decided he really likes a "big" chair much better than the high chair, and if it's not something too messy, I've been letting him. Don't you love little ones in warm jammies with bedhead?

Luke was feeling a little puny the day of Matthew's first basketball game, but he went this past Saturday and loved it! Toward the end, he even started saying, "Go Matthew!" You can see he had fun!

Hopefully I'll be back soon with things that are a lot more interesting!

Nothin' But Net

I am about to say words that I never really thought I'd say: I am a basketball mom.

A little background....I am as un-athletic as they come, as in, always the last one standing when they were choosing teams in PE. It was a major deal to me if I was not the last one chosen! Oh sure, I played basketball and other stuff on the playground, but for "real"--nah. Tracy played a little baseball when he was in elementary school, but that's it. We are just not athletically inclined! Tracy preferred activities like showing calves and FFA. My thing was piano, FHA (then Future Homemakers of America, now FCCLA--Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America), FBLA--Future Business Leaders of America, and pageants.

Fast forward to the present. We have never tried to steer Matthew into sports (or any other activity for that matter). We've just sort of let him see what he's interested in. Well, this year, it's basketball. Who would've thought it? Our school has a little elementary basketball program that runs for six weeks every January, and Matthew is playing. He actually wanted to play last year, but for a couple of different reasons, he didn't. This year, however, as soon as the paperwork was sent home, he begged me, "Mama, can I PLEASE play basketball?" So of course, we let him. It's really not so bad. They practice during their PE time a couple of days a week, and then have a game on Saturday morning. Hats off to our coaches (it's our high school boys' basketball coach who coordinates it; yet another benefit of a K-12 school) for doing a great job of working out the time schedule. This past Saturday, they were right on the money with the schedule. They play 4 six-minute quarters; the whole game, including time-outs, halftime, etc. lasts about 40 minutes.

He had so much fun last Saturday. His team is made up of 1st through 3rd graders. It's a hoot to watch them play! For the first half, if Matthew wasn't running, he had his hands in his pockets. We tried to tell him that he couldn't get the ball with his hands in his pockets! Here are a few pictures. Unfortunately, I can't seem to get very good pictures in our gym.

Discussing stragegy, maybe?

Bringing in the ball.

Finally got those hands out of the pockets and up in the air!

In the end, we lost by a score of.....are you ready for this.....8-2. Not many points were made, but they all had a whole lot of fun!

Happy New Year (a week later!)

Happy New Year! I hope that 2010 will be your best year ever!

The first week of the new year has been a great one for us. It's been filled with a little of this and a little of that, so this post may be all over the place!

New Year's Day we had Mama and Tracy's parents over for lunch. However, for the last several years, we have totally broken the Southern New Year's traditions of blackeyed peas, greens, and ham. We really don't care for blackeyed peas, so a few years ago, we decided why not start the new year off with food we actually enjoy! So, that year, we decided to grill steaks, and since then, we've made it our new tradition that we always grill on New Year's Day. This year, we had grilled chicken, hashbrown casserole, pinkeye peas (at least they're dark peas!) and creamed corn. I also tried a new dish this year. One of my favorite Christmas gifts this year was this...

If you are local, I'm sure you remember the Garland House. It was one of my favorite treats for lunch. The day they closed was my birthday a few years ago, and Mama and I went there for lunch. The place was packed, and everybody was taking pictures, both in the dining room, with the cooks, you name it! Made me teary-eyed! This cookbook has just been published and Mama got it for me for Christmas. I decided to make the strawberry congealed salad, and it was delicious...exactly like Garland House made it, except I didn't make mine in the individual molds. I can't wait to try the Chicken Divan, the yeast rolls, the Peanut Paradise Pie...well, you get the idea!

Since New Year's Day, we have gone back to school...without the heat working properly, but I won't go there. We've also managed to spend our fair share of time doing this...

I've also been busy just trying to be better organized in the new year. While I don't make resolutions, I do enjoy getting a fresh start and trying to just generally do things better! So far, we've managed to cook supper at home every night for the past week....a MAJOR accomplishment for us. We eat out way too much! I've also worked on just keeping up with things around the house better...the laundry, the ironing, keeping the house cleaner, etc. I just hope I can keep it up, because even though it means I'm working harder, I'm much more relaxed and happier when everything is organized!

We have also been blessed by Tracy's workload picking up drastically. As I mentioned in my last post, things have been pretty slow for the last couple of months, but we were hoping that it would pick up after the first of the year. I figured it would take several weeks. Praise the Lord, it has just exploded here in this first week! He probably has three weeks worth of work already lined up. I'm so thankful for the Lord's provisions.

Finally, I forgot to mention this in my last post, but I had a really neat surprise on my birthday. I met someone who reads my blog! This is the first time I've ever met one of my readers! Most of the people who read (or at least who comment) are people I either know in real life or who I've gotten to know by reading their blogs. She works at Matthew's dentist office, but she just found my blog on her own. I thought it was so cool! So Jessica, thanks for reading, and hello to everyone at Dr. White's office!

Christmas Recap--Part 2

On Christmas night, we always have a big gathering at Tracy's grandmother's house. This is his dad's side of the family. It's always a big, loud, fun event. It's kind of neat that we get to have the best of both worlds--small, quiet gatherings as well as the big ones. Of course, Matthew loves the chance to play with the other kids, and that means he's pretty well worn out by the time we get home! Luke, while a little young to actually play "with" the others, gets worn out by just following them all around!

A funny story about this last picture. When H was smaller, she wouldn't have anything to do with Tracy or his daddy! She would talk about them all the time, especially "Unka Owell" (Uncle Howell), but she wouldn't actually talk to them! One time in particular, she was the flower girl in a family wedding. "I don't want Tracy to look at me," she told her mother, but what was H doing during the entire wedding? Peeking around, trying to look at Tracy! She doesn't remember any of that, but we told her she sure has come a long way!

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I mentioned in my last post that I love the week between Christmas and New Year's. This year, the entire two week break has been great, because Tracy has been with us more than he usually is. When he was working his old job, he was only off on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day. Now that he is in business for himself, and this is a kind of slow time of year, he's sort of been "off" with us. He's worked some, but he hasn't had to be on a tight schedule of getting up and being at work by 7:00 a.m., as it was with his old job. I may be wrong, but I still believe that him getting laid off will wind up being a blessing for us. Things are really slow right now, but it was always slow this time of year at his old job, too. Hopefully things will pick up in a few weeks on the industrial side (forklift repair for various businesses), and the agricultural repair should pick up, too. His daddy is in the process of building a barn and part of it is going to be enclosed as for a shop for Tracy. He has several ag jobs waiting, that are large enough jobs that they need to be in a shop, rather than them being repairs he can do at the client's house/barn. So, I think him going into business for himself will wind up being a good move.

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Wanna see what 35 looks like?

Another reason I love the week between Christmas and New Year's.....my birthday! I turned 35 yesterday. I had thought that the mid-point of my 30s might be hard to swallow, but it was rather painless after all. I had a wonderful day! Mama had a doctor's appointment and Matthew had a dentist appointment, so we headed to town first thing. They were within 15 minutes of each other, so we finished up at the same time, and did a little shopping. I also dropped my truck off to have it cleaned (a gift to myself!) Now if I could only keep it that way! I have laid down the law to Matthew that the backseat is NOT a garbage can! We'll see... Anyway, Tracy had to go to town to pick up some tractor parts, so he did that and then met us all for a light lunch. After lunch, we split up and Luke and Mama did some more shopping while Tracy and I took Matthew to see "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel". Our plan had been to go to the 1:30 show, but it was sold out. So while waiting for the 2:40 show, we headed back across town and picked up my truck and then went back to the movies. It was really cute, and we all enjoyed it. After the movies, we reconnected with Mama and Luke and went to Cracker Barrel for dinner. I know that doesn't sound like a very fancy birthday dinner, but they have a dish that I love--Broccoli Cheddar Chicken--that is only served on Wednesdays after 4:00 p.m. I haven't had it in forever, so when I realized that my birthday was on a Wednesday and we were going to be in town, that's what I decided I wanted to eat. All in all, a very enjoyable, relaxing day with my family. What more could a girl ask for?

Tonight will be very low-key. We never do much for New Year's Eve. We're not partiers (sp?--partyers?), nor are we night owls, so we will just be at home with the boys. There's a community about 5 miles away that does an awesome fireworks display, so we might head over to that. Otherwise, just a nice quiet evening at home. For me, that sounds like the perfect way to ring in a new year!

Happy New Year, friends!

Christmas Recap--Part 1

We had a wonderful Christmas, and a wonderful week since then. I always love the week between Christmas and New Year's; it's so much more relaxed than the week before Christmas! We've played with lots of toys, eaten lots of yummy food, and just enjoyed some good family time together.

On Sunday night before Christmas, we had the annual children's Christmas musical at church. This year's musical was "Shepherds, Sheep, and a Savior" and Matthew was one of the shepherds (who were the main characters). Can you tell what he's doing with his staff?

Yeah, that's right...trying to grab me with it!

Here are two of our cousins, who were also shepherds.

They really did a great job, and I'm soaking it all up, because I know one day Matthew will get to the age that he probably doesn't want to do this kind of thing. I hope I'm wrong, but most kids get a little shy about performing at some point!

After the program, we had refreshments, and then a special visitor. When Tracy was a little boy, Santa always used to visit the kids at church one Sunday night and gave everyone a little goodie bag--maybe an apple and an orange and a few pieces of candy. Most everyone was excited about bringing that old tradition back, although we did have a couple who were vehemently opposed to the idea of Santa. I have to admit, I was a little nervous, and was a bit unsure myself of whether or not it was "appropriate". However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that to some of our kids at church, that might be the only bright spot in their holiday season. You see, most of the children at our church attend because of our bus ministry, and most of them come from sad situations...broken homes, poverty, parents who are not only unchurched but also unsaved, and in some cases, even abuse. For some, that little bag of fruit and candy might be one of the only gifts they would receive. So Santa came by that night, and what a fun time it was! I think the adults liked it as much at the kids.

However, while Matthew does still believe in Santa, he was a bit suspicious of our visitor. He thought he sounded a lot like Uncle Tommy! In fact, one of those cousins even told Santa, "You sound like my granddaddy!" Ihad hoped that Luke might warm up to Santa, since it would be in familiar surroundings and a familiar voice...no such luck!

Moving on to Christmas Day....we always spend Christmas Day at home. Since Tracy and I are both only children, we have no problem coordinating the family gatherings. My mom comes and spends the night on Christmas Eve. She is in charge of getting Matthew in bed and keeping him in bed! We open gifts on Christmas morning and then Tracy's parents come over for lunch.

In July, Matthew decided he wanted to ask Santa for a Wii. Some cousins came down for the weekend and brought theirs, and we had a blast. From that point on, that's what Matthew wanted for Christmas. However, he didn't even see it when he first came into the living room. He was more interested in the guitar he got. Then we directed his attention over toward the television, and here's his reaction!

We had lots of fun opening presents and playing with the new toys. Everybody got in on the action with the Wii, even the grandparents!

Part 2 of our Christmas fun to follow...