dead dog

Last school year I spent money on decorations for my classroom and other items I needed that first year.  This year I am thinking of practical things that I wasn't able to initially purchase last year for my classroom.  I am trying not to spend too much money because now I have a car payment! 

For some time now I have been wanting to purchase tennis balls.  The school had little protectors on the bottom of the chairs.  They never would stay on the chairs so there were a lot of chairs sliding, and the noise started to drive me crazy!

I have been looking on ebay and didn't realize how much tennis balls cost!  I think it is a good investment because they will last a long time on my chairs.  I ended up ordering some from Walmart.

Friday when I walked outside to go to lunch with a friend I saw this....

....little chewed up pieces of a box.

I was not happy.

I began to look around for the box and a dog to kill, but couldn't find either!

I found some of the cans of tennis balls around the yard that were chewed up. 

At this time I really thought my dog was going to be dead! 

Luckily my Dad found the box and no tennis balls were damaged.

No dog was injured either!!!

How could I not forgive this sweet girl!

new!!!!

Yesterday was a big day in my life! 

 I purchased a NEW car!!!!!!!

I could not have done it without my Dad!

I am so thankful to have a job for next year so that I can now make payments on it! 

I am thankful that God allowed me to be patient and wait for the right time to buy a car. 

I am just thankful that God has blessed me!!!

2011 Toyota Corolla

She is quite the beauty!!



a life of loving

Tuesday my Grandmother went to be with Jesus.  She had Alzheimer's for many years and had been in a nursing home for a little over 7 years.  Today we had her memorial service.  It was such a sweet service in memory of her.  Her life was ALL about love.  She loved her husband, her church, her friends, her family, and most importantly she loved Jesus.  

This is one of the very first pictures of grandma and me!

My grandmother was such a wonderful woman.  She was so giving.  She wanted to serve people. 

My grandmother loved to cook for us when we came to visit.  She always fixed us homemade pizza, pancakes, biscuits, cookies.  She always had ice cream in her freezer and would fix Cheerwine floats.  One of the best memories I have of my grandma is of her in the kitchen cooking.  

My grandmother loved her grandchildren.  My mom had my grandma fill out a special memory book for each of us girls.  She filled it out with her special memories about her childhood, my mom's childhood, and things that she loved.  This week is the first time that I have really read the book.  I was 7 when she gave it to me.  I didn't appreciate it then, but now I do.  I have loved reading her handwriting and have pictured her sitting at her kitchen table writing in the book.  I was able to share a couple of favorite things from the book at the memorial service.  One of my favorite stories is that an aunt of hers had come to visit when she was younger.  She gave her some advice that I agree with and love!  She said, "Lina, every morning, wear earrings, they brighten one's face!"  I love wearing earrings and like to think that grandma told me this at a young age and it has stuck with me.

My grandmother was a teacher.  She taught home economics and Sunday school.  I know my grandmother would be so proud of my teaching and she would have been my number one blog follower if she could!  She supported us in everything that we did.  She would always take time to come to awards day, our piano recitals, and birthday parties.  She would play with us, color with us, and even sit in the bathroom with us while we took care of our business.

My grandmother always smiled.  My sister and I made a slide show of pictures of her childhood, my mom and her sisters growing up, and the 7 grandchildren.  I have loved looking at the pictures and remembering her smile and her laugh. 

Today I am smiling for my grandmother because I know she is smiling.  She is smiling so big because she is with my granddaddy and Jesus. 

I am so happy that my grandmother can now walk, talk, eat, sing, and smile.  I rejoice that she has a new body and a new mind.  She doesn't have to depend on others to wheel her around or feed her.  She now gets to sit at Jesus' feet and worship him like she always longed to do!

I can't wait to be there with her, worshiping and praising Jesus!

We will miss her, but I am so thankful for the 25 years I was able to spend with her!



catch up!

I cannot believe it has been so long since I have posted!  Sorry to my faithful followers!  The last couple of weeks have gone by so fast, and I just keep putting blogging on my to do list for the next day, and now it is two weeks later.  

I will try to catch you up a little bit on life!

The last week of school was a little sad for me (and my students).  I was just sad because the year was coming to an end, and it seemed like it happened too fast.  I was also happy because I finished my first year of teaching!!!!  I can't believe how fast it went.  I feel like the year had just started.  As I write and I think about the past school year, it is crazy to think about all that was accomplished during the year. 

I loved my 23 students so much and it was just hard to let them go!  Maybe this will get easier each year I teach!  I keep reminding myself that the group of Kindergartners I will have next year will be special, and I will love them just as much.  I do think that this class will always have such a special place in my heart because they were my first class.  I love thinking about how these little children impacted my life so tremendously, and the great memories that were made!   

I got so many sweet cards, pictures, and gifts during the last week of school.  The compliments that some parents gave me were the best and highest compliments I have ever received in my life!  I received an awesome photo scrapbook with pictures from the school year.  I had already been planning on making one myself this summer, but it was already done for me, and I will treasure it so much more because it came from two students and their mothers who helped in my classroom so much!  I have spent some time looking at each sweet picture and just reflecting on the year and the growth that each child made.  I know that my mind will forget some names as I continue to teach so I went ahead and wrote names by each picture so in 20 years I will remember their names! 

I didn't realize how much work went into wrapping up a school year for teachers.  So many little things that have to be done!  There are so many things that you do NOT learn in college...this is one of the many!

Two days after the last day of school we started Ready, Set, Grow.  In our county we have a program for incoming Kindergartners who need a little prep for the school year.  It lasts only 12 days (excited that I still have a long summer).  I am teaching this so I have had to quickly wrap up the school year, and I have now jumped into Ready, Set, Grow.  I have 15 pre Kindergartners who will come to our school next year.  We help them with colors, shapes, letters, numbers, etc.  It is very basic but a great preparation for these students. 

On the first day of Ready, Set, Grow, I got the nasty stomach bug!  I had not been sick all school year (thank you, Lord), but the night before it hit me!  I hated to miss the first day, but my principal is great and worked every thing out for me!!!!!

I just can't believe it is already summer!  I am so proud to have this year behind me, but I still miss those students!  I am now praying for next year's class to be as successful and awesome!

A little example of how great these kinders were to me!

new york, new york!

Last weekend I went to New York with my sisters.  We had this trip planned since last November.  I have been looking forward to it for a long time!  Appalachian State University, where I went to college, has a loft in NY.  Students and Alumni can stay for CHEAP while visiting the city.  It was so much fun.  I had never been to New York.  We had so many things we wanted to do and see.  We flew in Friday night, got settled in, and then got up early Saturday to get tickets for Jersey Boys.  It is the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.

 

 After getting our tickets we walked around Times Square.

Visited Toys R Us and rode the Ferris Wheel!

Did a LOT of walking around the city from Ground Zero, Chinatown, Little Italy, SOHO, NOHO, and 5th Ave. 

Saturday night we saw Jersey Boys and walked around Times Square.  It was so neat to see how alive Times Square is late at night.  I had never seen any thing like it!

Sunday we spent the morning at the Statue of Liberty.  I loved walking around the museum and learning about how Lady Liberty was built and other interesting facts about her. 

We spent the afternoon walking across the Brooklyn Bridge and shopping on 5th Ave.  I loved shopping at H&M!!! 

One of my favorite stores we went in was Dylan's Candy Bar. 

The store was so fun.  My favorite things were the cupcake booth seats in the cafe and of course all the candy!!! 

That night we ate dinner at the Shake Shack.  It was a little restaurant in a park near the loft.  We noticed the day before how crazy long the line was.  We knew it must be good so we had to try it out.  We were starving and waited in line for an hour, but it was very good!  Loved experiencing eating hot dogs in the park!  Felt like it was a New York thing to do!

Monday we walked MORE!  We went to the piers because it was Fleet Week and we wanted to see the boats from the Navy.  It was neat to be there on Memorial Day.

We walked to Central Park and then visited a couple more stores on 5th Ave. that we had not had time for on Sunday.

Tuesday back at school, I told my students all about my trip.  I showed them on the map where North Carolina is and where New York was.  I showed some pictures that were on my phone and also shared some candy with them from Dylan's Candy Bar. 

Video highlights by my sister!!!

It was a great trip with my sisters.  We made so many great memories that will last the rest of my life!  I am so lucky to have such fun sisters to go on trips and spend time with.  I am so glad that we were able to experience the big city together. 

I am already planning my next trip!  Who is in????

butterflies

Our caterpillars arrived 3 weeks ago.  We enjoyed watching the caterpillars grow every day, turning into a pupa, and finally coming out of their pupa as a beautiful butterfly!  We studied each stage of the butterfly life cycle, and the students made a little book about the different stages. 

 Day 1

 Day 3

 Pupa Stage

 Butterflies!



We also did some fun stuff with Eric Carle's book The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

In college I did an author study on Eric Carle.  One of our assignments was to pick a book and make something that connects with the book.  I wanted to make something that would last through my teaching years.

My mom and I worked together to make a felt board.  I shared this with my students.  I gave each student a felt illustration, and when I read about what they had, they came to put it up on the board.

  

I put this in a center after we did it as a whole class.  It was a huge hit.  They loved retelling the story.

We also wrote about the hungry caterpillar. 

"If I were a hungry caterpillar..."

...I would eat 1 apple, 2 cakes, 3 lollipops, 4 cheese, 5 cookies, 6 pumpkins, 7 oranges, 8 chicken, 9 pie, 10 pears, 11 grapes.

She made sure to include it ALL in her picture!

...I would eat carrot, cupcake, pizza, cheese, and an apple. 

He had drawn a lot of other foods but ran out of time and room on his paper to write it all!

Today we let our butterflies free.  It was exciting as we watched each one fly away!

my twin

I am so glad that God gave me a twin.

I am glad that I get to share a birthday with her! 

Amy is THE funniest person I know.  She always makes me laugh.  One time she got mad at me and said she was not going to talk any more and she also added that I would not laugh any more.  She was right. 

I love her laugh and I love laughing with her. 

We have shared everything.  Clothes, birthday parties, cars, 1st day of school, college apartment, bedroom, and pretty much every thing else! 

I would not trade being a twin at all! 
People have always asked about being a twin, but it is hard to answer because I do not know any different.

We were born an hour and a half apart.  She was ready...I was not.

We are so different, but so alike!    

Amy is so beautiful.  She is so fun to be around.  She loves life and makes sure to have a good time no matter where she is.  

She loves Jesus, youth, and ME!  

She is the one I always call first with good news and the first one I call when I am sad and need someone just to listen and give advice!  

She is going to Divinity school and she wants to be a youth minister.  She is going to be a great one because she has awesome qualities.  

I can not say enough good things about her!  

If you know her...your life will never be the same!!!!

  

Amy, Thank you for being my best friend and a great sister.  I am so glad that I get to share so much with you.  You are such an inspiration to me and to so many other people.  I am so glad that we have each other.  Thank you for always listening to me and letting me cry even when it is for stupid reasons.  Thank you for loving me no matter what!  Thank you for supporting me and encouraging me. 

I am so proud of you and where God is leading you. 

I know He is going to do BIG things with you. 

I love you wombmate!!!!