from years ago...

Tonight while giving Chloe Jo a bath...I just randomly came out with Chug-a lug-chug-a-lug...MAKES YOU WANNA HOLLER HEIDY-HO...a song from my childhood.  Funny thing is I could sing every word still even though it has been probably 25+ years since I listened to the record at MamaBill and DaddyDoyle's house.

They had a record player in a big box that looked like furniture.  It had a sliding wooden top that opened to the record player that still works as far as I know.  Oh gosh...it makes me teary to think about this.  It is funny and heart-breaking all at the same time that the song Chug-a-Lug makes me want to weep.  Sometimes things pop into your head out of the clear blue.  You have to believe it is not by accident...

Records...one of my favorite things to do during those weeks in the summer at my grandparents house was listen to DaddyDoyle's records. Another favorite...Big Chief Wampum bedtime stories...that for sure left me with eyes wide opened. 

DaddyDoyle would tell me these stories when I spent the night.  Just the thought that BIG CHIEF WAMPUM actually existed was unnerving but it did not keep me from begging to hear more.  On occasion he would drive me by Big Chief Wampum's place...which in my later years I realized it was actually the American Legion in Gleason!  haha 

His story would begin in Dresden and I guess I was too young to ever really pay attention ....but you better believe I was big blue-eyes when we finally got there and saw the torch lighted out front.  It sealed the deal for me. I think I rode back to Dresden lost in my thoughts that it was actually real! 

I can still remember sitting in the truck...he would actually pull up and stop...we would both be staring as he quietly told me the clencher to the story as the flame flickered...he knew he had me reeled in:)  I think I still believe in BIG CHIEF WAMPUM...heehee  He will always be a mighty warrior to me. 
Enjoy this, friends.  I certainly still do...my grandparents gave me the best memories. 

Another Dollhouse adventure...in the new house

So, you have all figured out by now that I love to listen to Chloe Jo play with her dollhouse people.  ha  I couldn't let today's adventure go without photos so when she is all grown I can always remember how creative of an imagination she had as a little kid:) 

Santa brought her a new dollhouse and accessories for Christmas so she now has a dream home and her "other house" as she calls it...but my favorite thing is the family van...the music is the best.  I will try to post video of it sooner than later. 

From the looks of things...the dollhouse family escaped an evil alligator attack on their new home this morning...I heard Chloe Jo yelling alligator and rushing with her dollhouse family and 11 pets in the RV down the hallway.   heehee

I'm thinking Dollhouse Dad should have let Dollhouse Mom drive...

Hope you have a fabulous Saturday, friends.  I'm thinking about a little antiquing...and errands...then shoe shopping this evening with my family.  FUN TIMES around here because "Daddy" is home:) 

Blogging means throwing correct punctuation out the window...for a few seconds

Why do I feel the need to defend my writing without rules blog?  Since my job teaching Language Arts, of all things, I have somewhat of a complex about certain folks reading my stuff just because of mechanics...(that I tend to just throw out while blogging)

Editing and proofreading cramps my style...I am a dot-dot-dot girl...because I want it to read just the way I tell a story...not with grammatically correct pauses...because this is me talking.  haha 

So, I'll just put it out there...if it annoys you that I do not follow the rules just don't read me...because I refuse to spend extra time making sure it is perfectly quoted and written. 

Why would I do that during leisure time? 

I was once told I am not a sheep...guess this is one of those situations. 

I have enjoyed sharing my stories with all of you, thanks to all of you who might find me an interesting read:)  Gonna go bathe before the storm gets here.  Hopefully, it is an uneventful watch...goodnight, friends.  Hope you all have a great week! 

P.S.  I really love my friends:)

Ever wonder what a whole foot in your mouth tastes like?

Epic Misty Vaughn moment on Friday at school...possibly a have to be there kind of situation but I will do my best to try and explain. 

On my way to school I had a feeling it was someones birthday who I worked with...but I left the list on the fridge...and went on my way. 

We order out every Friday so when I figured out it is actually Debbie's birthday over the upcoming weekend...I tell her I am going to pay for her lunch. 

Picture this... I go into the office to pick up our lunch delivery...I am actually leaning over the counter and start spilling my guts to our school secretary, Mrs. Joy. (who I consider a friend but she may feel different after Friday's stunt)

I begin with...I am such a horrible friend...I cannot remember anything...<all the while she is shaking her head attentively and patiently listening to my spill> I continue rambling on about being so absent minded.

Then the moment arrives...when I eat a whole "foot"long sandwich...ha   As I continue on it is this feeling of she is waiting to say something...then I say..I couldn't even remember that it is....Debbie's birthday on Sunday...she replies that she does that kind of stuff all of the time. 

Then, suddenly I look up...and my principal is completely beet-red in the face walking out of his office...laughing hysterically and pointing over Mrs. Joy's head.  He mouths to me her birthday is Sunday, too!!!!

So,  it dawns on me...awww, she was probably waiting to say it is okay to me because she was expecting me to say I forgot her birthday instead of Debbie's.  I am such an idiot sometimes.  I still feel absolutely horrible ...but definitely gave them all a good laugh in the office. 

Why do I do such stupid stuff from time to time???  One thing for sure, I told both of them Happy Birthday today with a simple text.  Hopefully, I will get it right next year!  Please forgive your stupid 4th grade teacher friend...(and I don't even say the "s" word) 

Make today a great day, Mrs. JOY!   You are way too kind to me:)

No, I am not stressed...just preparing

With Duck Season in Missouri coming to an end, I see my husband thinking about his season and how he will do some things differently in the next few weeks for goose season and already changes for next year.  As a teacher, I do the same thing...I think we all need to take time to reflect. 

I feel good about my efforts this year...I mean there is definitely room for improvement but I have literally tried my best to knock it out of the park in Language Arts this year.  I really didn't know how the change would be because truly I loved teaching Kindergarten. 

What I have found are some of the sweetest kids.  I have totally fallen in love with them and must admit have grown very attached...which is typical of me... but I didn't know what to expect from them.  I have several huggers which makes me very happy:)  I also love what I am teaching....which is a pleasant surprise:) 

Reflecting back through the school year...I realize I may have been too thorough...if that even makes sense to you non-teachers.  ha   I am sure you are wondering how can you be too thorough???  Well, in case you didn't know...teachers are given certain standards to follow and it is assumed that students come to you at grade level and ready to tackle each one. 

(I am laughing hysterically right now...)  That is not the case in any classroom.  There are many different levels and we have to assess the situation and then begin where our kids are and cover all of it...or at least that makes sense to me. 

The stressful part for me is I love what I do...and the "test" puts everyone on edge.  Along with the new evaluation system...but I refuse to speak about it at great length.  Our reputations are dependent upon one day of our students' testing life in 4th grade. 

This is what I will refer to as "crunch" time!  Time is the enemy for every teacher.  There just isn't enough of it...or at least that is how I always have felt.  And this TCAP thing....It's like the anticipation of the "BIG" game...literally.  I have mapped it all out on the calendar...to be sure I have enough time to cover all material and believe it or not...I think I can pull it off.  Learning to pace myself has been my major obstacle...I just pray these kids are able to receive it...and apply it. 

My goals this year have been to introduce Language Arts in a creative-challenging yet exciting way...to relate it to the kids and show them learning really can be fun.  I also strive to show them my human side and that teachers really can have a sense of humor.  The main thing for me has been to show them that teachers really can love them and set high expectations at the same time because we believe in them.

So, I'm a little like Santa...with this whole checking my list thing right now...ha  Making sure I have covered all that I need to and to make sure they feel confident in their skills and are ready to "rock" this test in the spring.  Hopefully, my hard work will pay off as much as it has for my husband!

These kids at HMS have stolen my heart...and friends, they need our prayers.  (As well as their parents... my colleagues/administration and ME:))  Times are definitely different and scary.  I still see the "little kid" in my students...and so many... right in my home town... are sooo needy:)

And to my colleagues who have been teaching middle school for years...WOW!  You have made my first year great,so far:)  I guess time will tell if I'm good enough to keep good company or not...heehee

The first dusting of snow...

We have had a happy First snow day of 2012:)

Freaky things happen...

SNOW DAY MEANS BLOG TIME...

Hey, friends.  I know it has been a while since my last post.  School started back and David has been in Missouri...which means work all day and single parent all night.  (My heart goes out to all of you doing this by yourself...at least my struggle will end after duck/goose season.)

We had a BIG scare right before we started back to school which really silenced me for a few days.  A few of my friends have been waiting for my response.  I will tell you...I was speechless for hours.  I haven't wanted to blog about it until now.

When you have something happen that makes you see how things could go bad in a matter of seconds...it makes you silent sometimes.  Maybe talking about it brings up emotions you do not want to think about or even imagine.

We were in the camper the day before school started back.  David left out before daylight to get his clients into the blind before shooting time.  I got up and cooked myself breakfast...Chloe Jo was watching UmiZoomi (her favorite show) and drinking her juice.  We were relaxing a bit before we hit the road back to Tennessee. 

After getting things cleaned up and packed into the car...surprisingly, I hear David rolling in..in the "Duckmobile" minus a back glass and eyes as big as saucers.  He was visibly shaken a bit or maybe in shock of what had just happened.  He starts cleaning out broken glass and telling me the story of what just occurred... on this day God spared him horrible injury or even worse...and he knew it.

The throttle cable was frozen and David had gotten into the floorboard to mess with it.  His parking brake was not working on the Ranger so he had it in gear to hold it better...

Well, when he pulled the throttle, it "hung wide-open" and the Ranger actually jumped the trailer and started climbing the Suburban...with David in the floorboard.

The guys who were in the blind shined the flashlight at the scene to see.  They were not local folks.  They  could not hear anything and thought David was for sure... dead. One of the guys was a paramedic and was already thinking what his next move was going to be to get help...cell phone service is wonderful in Gobler, Missouri.

Well, I am happy to say there is a happy ending to this story...God definitely had his hands on the Ranger and on David that day.  It climbed right on the edge of the Suburban and did not flip over.  David walked away without a scratch.  His trailer is totaled and his back glass shattered...a few things wrong with the Ranger but repairable. 

Best of all, he lived to tell me about this freak accident...even though I just wanted to kill him. 

You know, all I could do was just come home.  After the death of my Grandmother and then this freak accident I had no words.  Chloe Jo and I got in the car and came home.  I couldn't talk about this for a while.  I was just so thankful.

Silence is good sometimes...seeing God at work in my life so clearly makes me speechless.  I thank God for his blessings on me:)
   

later that same day...back in the blind...:)

Friends, I'm feeling a "shanwitch" kinda day, as Chloe Jo calls it.  Happy snow day:)

I AM EXCITED...

LIGHT THERAPY TREATMENT NUMBER 1...

I am really excited about my PANASOL II light box...home unit.  This could be just what I need to get my psoriasis maintained:)  I am praying that it helps.  I did my first treatment today for 30 seconds.  WooHoo!

I went to a new dermatologist who thought I would respond well to getting the "good" rays in the convenience of home instead of traveling to Vanderbilt two days a week:)  I am thankful for her concern and such great care she has given me. 

Believe it or not...living with psoriasis does a number on your self-esteem.  It has made me somewhat reclusive about being around people.   I know some of you find that hard to believe...but it is very true.  Some folks probably wonder what has happened to me...I back away from being around folks who do not see me on a daily basis because of my skin.  Silly but so real.

My skin was one of the main reasons I worried about coming home to teach.  Most folks I know in Huntingdon do not even know I suffer with this.  I am so self-conscious about it around parents at school...or colleagues who do not work closely with me.  It has even affected my church attendance because I catch people staring at my arms...people always ask...or glance at my arms when they are talking to me and try not to be obvious. 

I worried about middle school kids and how they would respond to having a polka-dot Language Arts teacher.  My arms have not been clear in almost 10 years...and I have hope finally that I will get help with this treatment.  (Hopefully no more steroid topicals...EVER!)

Believe me, I know there are worse things...and it is mainly just on my arms.  My heart goes out to others who suffer skin problems much more severe...

Since there is no cure for psoriasis, and stress is one of the known causes...one can only hope for a little relief.  Isn't she a beauty!!!!ha  I am sure I will be blogging about future light therapy sessions....I know you cannot wait, friends.

Scooby Doo...Where are you?

CLEANING OUT...

I have been working on Chloe Jo's room.  I had all of her toys in a pile that needed to find a home.  Before bringing in the new stuff I decided it was time to get rid of baby stuff... she has not been happy about me putting her things "in the hall".  ha

I really cannot believe she is too old for this stuff...but her room is way too full of toys she doesn't play with anymore.  Cleaning out with a three year old around is frustrating work. When I attempt to clean up I try to get all her pieces to certain things back in order. 

I looked up and she had gotten in to my "new toys" pile...UGH!  I have searched high and low...and I am telling you... if she doesn't find that Scooby Doo and Fred...it is not going to be good! 

I have spent a great portion of the last three years of my life looking for stuff.  It all started with the pacifier stage...if you are a mother then you know what I am talking about. Usually it is the remote...<you should see David when that thing is missing> that I have a little wooden box especially for on the side table...and looking for that thing has been off and on for nine years...(wonder why?) ha

Asking for help to find something around here is a joke...let's just say my family will never be awarded the prize for best Easter egg hunter...ha  If you cannot scan the room to find that something you are looking for...you might as well forget about it. 

I see fire engine red when I cannot find what I am looking for...because I am tired...

So, lets just say this Mystery Machine may have lost its main character...SCOOBY DOO,WHERE ARE YOU?