What's Great About Summer?

No more pencils, no more books, no more teacher's dirty looks!  Ha. ha. don't worry I don't give dirty looks, but packing away the classroom has come with happy and sad feelings.  I  am losing some precious students to the intermediate school, they have aged out, but they will always be my little guys and girls.

The Banana Splits

Splashing in Puddles

End of Year Parties

New Boots

Baseball Games- Go DASH!

Face Paint

Fighting Crime in Face Paint and New Boots

No Scrunchies!

Ladies I know its summer..but there is no excuse for bad hair.  So I am giving you some summer hair help secrets with some assistance from the little ladies at my school.  So remember, no matter how HOT you are..put the scrunchies down and try this instead.


I didn't wash my hair, so I put a big bun on my head w/ a huge flower...both pretty and hides bad hair.



velcro curlers, girl's best friend if you have flat hair like me

after velcro curlers- I call this the Kate Middleton




when all else fails, add pigtails!

 Other INSPIRED hair dos came from these cute primary ladies at my school, they were very excited to model off their hair!  Since I have a little boy, this was fun, these girls are so cute!

this little flower lights up in the middle, i thought it was so cute, and she felt so pretty

who doesn't love a pink sparkled jewel?



what a beautiful head of hair!?  She knows how to wear a ponytail!



I thought this was a pretty, cool do, I love the little braids.  Just as cute as she can be!

Pull your bangs back with a pretty bow!

I wish my hair would do this..I love all those pretty bows and braids.



This braid keeps her cool on field day and is beautiful!



Hope we gave you some hair ideas, and I HOPE I don't see you with a scrunchie this summer!

Work Challenges

PEOPLE AT WORK THAT MAY PRESENT A CHALLENGE

The Boss (but really isn’t):  This person always seems to have the 411 over you and tells everyone what to do, even if they are NOT in charge. "No, we will NOT be doing that, because I didn’t approve it!”

The Kiss Up:  This person plasters a fake smile and pretends like everything is awesome to score points.  The same person who wouldn’t give you the time of day in the break room, but acts like your Queen Elizabeth in front of “important people”.  Or perhaps doesn’t care about the rules unless the “important people" are around… and THEN they invented the rules, they LOVE the rules, they would love to DEMONSTRATE the rules…(and they would LOVE to make me throw up).  "Have I told you today Mrs. Q that I just  loooovvvveee to work here, I would work for free, please cut my pay!  You are sooooo awesome!”

The Confrontation:  This sensitive person bites your head off if you insinuate in any shape or form that you disagree.  The Confrontational person is ready to attack at moments notice; most people appease the confrontational person out of fear. “You better quit looking at me that way or Ima going to give you something to look at!”

The Chameleon:  This person changes their color to match others, they ride the fence, and they NEVER have a true opinion.  This person agrees with everyone and everything.  I would rather deal with The Confrontation than The Chameleon.  “Whatever is good with you, is good  with me!”  To Suzy:  “I don’t like Heather either.”  To Heather:  “I don’t like Suzy either.”  “I don’t want to make anyone mad.”

The Sneaker:  This person loves to sling around corners, catch pieces of gossip, question what is going on, and spread it around like no ones business.  Gossip is this person’s name and Trouble is the game.  Hear that two coworkers don’t get along??  Heyyyyy, I know, let me fuel the fire.  Hear that someone is moving departments??  I know, let me lie about all the details so I can get attention.  "I don’t mean to cause trouble, but I just heard Jack say that Jill is a total nutcase and that he would rather swallow fire than look at Jill’s skanky self.  But don’t tell I said, I hate to cause trouble.”

The Know it All:  Do I really have to write anymore??  The employee that speaks up at every meeting so that we can hear a true expert.  “Actually,  I think it would be so much better if you did my plan using my specific diagram and list of steps with timing and resources because it’s obvious by the way you have pizza on your shirt that you are a total moron and shouldn’t breathe at this meeting.”

Of course I wish I could tell you that I was The Gung-Ho..full of positive energy and love no matter what is thrown at me, butttt, let’s get real.  If you care about your work, and you are emotionally attached to what you do...then you may be all these at one point or the other.  Today was a challenge for me, and I may have crossed over a few times.  Still, don’t worry I did what any crafty women like myself would do and went to eHow.com for advice, and now I am allll good.  This is what it said…

1.  Zoom in on yourself, remember there is two sides to a story!
2.  Make him addicted to you! (oh wait that’s an Ad in the middle of the page, hold on let me see the other tips)…..
3.  Be Prepared to Listen.
4.  Stay Professional!
There you go, have a great day at work tomorrow! J

Bouncy Houses and Glitter Shoes!

This weekend was fast!  It’s like I’ve got so many dishes brewing that are almost done…I just have to make sure they are cooked just right and not underdone or burnt.   School, VBS, Awanas are all coming to a close.

On a good note, this weekend Darren came home from his mission from NYC.  I think he had a great experience and was looking forward to sharing at church today, but he was never called to speak.  He put his notes away and said he felt God may have him use them later.  Knowing how shy he is, I was impressed and proud.  My personal favorite story was when the Chinese Kids in NYC asked the group if they ‘lived on a farm’ because of their southern accent.  The sermon this morning was good and it was about really listening to God’s voice.  Speaking of listening, it was a touch hard for me to focus with my AWESOME glitter shoes on today.  I tried not to stare…but they were sooooo sparkly and shiny. 



ahhhhh.....all that glitters and shines...pay attention to the sermon lady.



After church, Connor and I headed to The House of Bounce for a b. day party which was really awesome, until I tried to bounce with Connor.  Note to self:   Don’t EVER get in the Bouncy House again.  I could never stand up properly which left me on all fours and I could feel my underwear showing.  Since I was self conscious I just laid on my back where I was nearly killed by the little ones.  I finally made it out, but YIKES it was dangerous.  The Bouncy House seems big until one is inside.  I felt like a big sausage stuffed in a small tuberware bowl. 

 Right after that I had a VBS meeting that stressed me out…because I ummm….urrrr….didn’t realize I was suppose to order the bouncy house(s) (that is the highlight of Parent Night) oops.  I am praying that something will come available.  Today I really HATE BOUNCY HOUSES.

BOUNCY HOUSE..ADULTS BEWARE!

Saying Goodbye to Preschool

Connor only has five days left until he leaves preschool for good.  I spent this weekend making up gifts for his teachers and photo books for his classmates.  I have to tell you that Connor started out his first four years at a daycare that had predominantly white children with most children's parents being educators.  I was told this was the place to be.  As Connor begin to learn to talk, walk, and take on responsibility we didn’t see any progress.  He was soon constantly in trouble.  It’s such a source of anguish for a parent to be called constantly and told your child isn’t behaving, sitting, not learning….. I was just so frustrated.  I questioned ‘what are we doing wrong?’  We tried everything.  We decided a move was good.  I had heard about another daycare from a trusted coworker, but had reservations about moving him one year before kindergarten and moving him to a daycare that I didn’t know a lot about.  

Enter our current daycare…it has a wide range of students of different colors, homes, and backgrounds.  This really worked for us. It’s important to pick a school that works for your child, not what other people say “work”.   I liked that Connor fit in and was exposed to all different types of people.  More importantly, the teachers were good.  They never let anything like a child’s background, ability, or knowledge get in the way of learning. We never got a call saying that Connor ‘just wouldn’t do a thing’ or ‘just couldn’t do it’.  They pushed him to work, and appreciated his outgoing personality and saw his intelligence.   We have a long way to go and nothing will be easy, but we are so Blessed to have Connor on a better track.  If you are a parent searching for childcare, I am saying a prayer for you right now.  Finding someone to nurture, love, and teach your children is no easy task.  I remember this as a teacher.  Now we are beginning a new journey…KINDERGARTEN.  There should be plenty of stories to blog from there.  I don’t know why God trusted us with such an AMAZING kid, but we are thankful to be parents to Connor.



I am a big gift giver.  It doesn't have to be expensive.  This is a summer time juice cooler w/ packs of lemonade inside and matching plastic tumblers.  6.00 total/ I got 3.  I love pictures... were only .8 cent each/ 1.00 photo books. Walmart
 Connor signed the personal note.







Keep On Keepin' On!

Ok so maybe this blog thing is going to be a bit harder than I thought to keep up.  I actually put it on my list of things to do in my planner so I would make an effort.  So far these past few weeks I have been really writing things down and exploring things that work for me.   I actually weighed Friday and I am down 3 pounds!  Yahoooo. (hey I'll take it!)
I was going to try for one small change a week, and I am feeling good about it.  I have a busy month.  I am closing the school year, finishing student paperwork, looking at a classroom move, closing Awanas @ church, and preparing for our upcoming Vacation Bible School, and my son is finishing preschool….can you say exhausted?  So here I go keeping up with life…but its good to be busy.

This is a chart if you don't know how to walk.  I couldn't find a chart for me that might read step 1: one foot in front of the other. Step 2: don't have a heart attack. :)





this week in photos....the royal wedding

royal wedding party

May 1,
Today I went dress shopping.  I do love clothing.  I am sad to say that most things I tried on looked like a tent.  Who told the fashion industry to put huge rhinestones, gaudy flowers, and stripes on plus size clothing!?!  No worries, I did manage to find a few pieces that were as flattering as possible, but one day I plan to create a better line of clothing! 
This Saturday, my friend hosted a Royal Wedding Party to celebrate Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding.  I have to admit that I love a good princess story!  I decided to go, even though I was feeling major lee depressed from Allergies.  I ended up dressing up fancy and having a great time.  Eat your heart out Prince William!!