Y is for Year is Almost Over

Good morning!  We are counting down the days until our year is over at school.  We have 12 days left!  Twelve days!!  Yippee!

We are so ready for summer.  Sleeping in...no schedule....just being.  Sounds wonderful.

Here is my girl on her first day of school this year.

I can't wait to take an end of the year picture!

Until next time...

X is for X-Treme weather

Good morning everyone!  I write this  morning with a very thankful heart.  I know you all have heard the horrific stories of the horrible tornadoes that have hit Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama the last few days.  Those storms were supposed to move in here overnight and this morning.  

I hate stormy weather, especially when it comes in during the night.  They had been warning about this system for several days and had everyone on edge.  Early yesterday evening, several storms came in ahead of the main line and caused us to be under a tornado warning. Hubby was working late.  Darbee and I were at my aunt's house.  They said there was a tornado on a road right near our house.  Thankfully, it didn't get bad and we were spared.  A friend who lives less than 1/2 mile from my house took this picture and posted it on Facebook.

Wow!  We were really blessed.  

There was some damage about 30 minutes from us but nothing here.

The storms that came thru during the night were just thunderstorms.  They weakened away as they moved into our area.  

There is supposed to be another round tonight and I hope they do the same.  

I hope all of you have been safe and spared of the x-treme weather.

Until next time....

W is for Wishing

Good afternoon.  It's so cloudy here and we are nervous about the severe weather they are predicting for us tomorrow and Tuesday.  Hoping it doesn't get bad.  I hope those of you who are having the bad weather now are staying safe too!

After a good church service and lunch with all of our family this afternoon, we headed home.  On the way home, hubby said he wanted to take a drive and look at a house.  We would really like to move.  I love our home but we both would love a little more land and something not surrounded by houses.  A little more "out" that what ours is.  Our house is in the city limits and on a busy road.  There are a lot of walkers that pass by constantly and always activity outside.  

It's always fun to dream and wish right?  He found this house on the internet and wanted to take a look.  Just look at the road that leads up to the house....perfect.

It is an old farmhouse that was built in the 1920's that sits on a 4 acre farm that is fenced in.

The house itself is over 2,500 sq. ft.  I love it.  

I found some pictures on the internet of the inside.  It would need some work and some paint but oh the potential I can see.  

Just look at the sewing room already ready and waiting.

I would love to have it.  Just take a look at the land.  Oh so pretty!

Right to the left of the house is an old barn.

I can see a picnic table and such fun times under that shed.  There is a fire pit there too!

I want it....I love it!

What ya think?  

Until next time.....

V is for Video

Good morning!  For the letter V, I wanted to share a cute video.

We had magician Ken Scott visit our school several weeks ago and guess who just happened to get called on stage to help out with a trick?  My Darbee Rae.  She was so cute and did a great job!



Enjoy!

U is for Up town....

Good evening!  It's almost the weekend!  Yay!  We only have three more weeks of school left.  Can you hear me cheering?  I am so ready to be out.  

We live in what used to be a small town.  To many it is still considered small, but to me it is pretty big.When I think of a small town, I think of a quaint little town that still has a neat downtown area and beautiful homes.  I think of small coffee shops and neighborhood pharmacies where the pharmacists know your name. I think of community gatherings and festivals.  Our town is still somewhat like that but it is growing so fast.  

Twice each year, our town has a "Taste of Newnan."  Local restaurants and business come out and set up tents around our court square and have all kinds of yummy things to eat.  You purchase tokens and then buy your food with tokens.  We enjoy going each time.  It gives you a way to try out new restaurants without dining there and purchasing a full meal.  It was tonight.  Hubby had to work late but Nana just happened to be in town.  I called her and she wanted to go.  She has never been so it was a double treat!  She was able to walk and I was so thankful!  We had so much fun.

Darbee isn't too adventurous with food.  She stuck to the trusty Chick-fil-A nuggets.

The streets are blocked off on two sides of the square and people fill the streets.  

It was packed!

We tried fried Oreos. 

I have to admit I wasn't a big fan of them. 

Darbee sure enjoyed her Frigid Frog icee. Can't you tell?

It was a good afternoon!

Until next time....

 

T is for Teddy Bear

Hello friends!  I am happy you stopped by for a visit tonight.

I can't believe how fast this blog challenge is going!  We only have 6 more days!  What am I going to do after it is over?  I don't know.

For the letter T, I am writing about teddy bears.  I was never a kid who loved stuffed animals very much.  I never slept with them or got attached to one as a small child.  My daughter on the other hand is the total opposite.  She LOVES stuffed animals.  When she has her own money and goes shopping, she wants to buy a stuffed animal.  It's crazy!  

When she was just a little over 2, she still had a pacifier.  She had a paci every time you seen her.  She would ask for them by color.  We had a million that were kept beside the bed and I had about a million and one in my purse.  It was ridiculous.  I decided she was getting too big for them if she could request them by color and decided to work on getting rid of them.  When you mentioned giving them up, she would quickly say no.  I read in a magazine one time about replacing them with a stuffed animal.  What a cool idea.  She could trade in the paci for a special stuffed animal and sleep with it.  I guess I can be the one to blame for fueling her love of stuffed animals huh?  Haha.  

We decided to take her to Build A  Bear.  I had an idea.  I talked to her about it first and prepared her for what was going to happen.  I explained she would take her pacifiers and stuff them into a new stuffed animal and they would be gone gone forever.  She would be such a big girl.  She quickly agreed but I knew there was no way it could be that easy.  I made sure to hide all of the extra pacifiers before we left home so she couldn't find them when we came home.  I had to be strong.  

We went and she picked out a bright pink bear.  

Just before the bear was fully stuffed, she stuffed in two of her pacifiers.  She said goodbye and put them right in.  

She chose the name "Cuddles." 

We let her pick out an outfit and we dressed her new bear.

She was a happy girl.

The transition was so easy it was scary.  

She had one melt down when we came home and she couldn't find her extra ones but we explained how she could love on Cuddles and she would be fine.

The next morning, she ordered me to cut open Cuddles and get her paci's out.  Haha.  Did I?  No.  I had to be a strong mama.  She was fine and in a day or two, she never mentioned them.  She has slept with Cuddles every night since and she is 6 1/2. 

 Cuddles goes on every vacation with us.  She goes to dentist appointments that might be a little scary.

She even gets new looks sometimes. (smile)

She likes to ride on tricycles....

And has been there for the first days of school when Darbee might be a little nervous....

She is a good friend...

and a well loved teddy bear.

Until next time....

S is for Students

Good evening!  Whew!  I am caught up and working towards staying caught up with my posts!  How are you today?

I have been visiting blogs from the A to Z challenge list and am excited to have found several new ones to follow.

I have had a lot of questions and heart to heart conversations with my mama about life in general lately and people.  You know, life is so easy as a child but you can't wait to grow up.  Once you are grown you wish a lot of times that you could go back and have that easy road with no worries.  At least I do.  Don't you?

For the letter S, my thought is on students.

My how the times have changed.  When I was a student in school, we were expected to behave.  We were to respect our teachers and to do exactly as we were told. For those that chose not to,  the consequences were not fun.  There was still paddling when I first started school and even after that was gone, the threat of calling your parents was enough to scare you to death.

I always behaved.  I was scared not to.No, I was not perfect, but I knew better than to act out.   I knew the punishment that awaited me at home would be worse than any punishment I could receive at school.  Not only that but having to face the fact that I would have greatly disappointed my parents was enough to keep me in line.

But...what has happened?  What has changed?

Being a teacher and working in schools, I have found the respect is gone.  Most students could care less how they talk to their teachers or how they behave during class.  If they get in trouble, it's not their fault. They run home crying to mama and daddy who in turn blame someone else.   It's sad.  It's really sad.

And for the ones that do behave...what happens to them?  From what I have seen, instead of being the ones that are getting the attention, they are being ignored.  They are quiet and do their work therefore they don't need the teacher much.  She can focus all of her attention on the "others."

I have observed this first hand with Darbee. She is not a perfect child and she definitely has her moments but she does know how to behave and how to have respect.  She is in an extra curricular class during the week.  She knows at that class she is to behave just as she would with me or at school and she does.  But what does she do when the others are running around the room chasing one another with no respect for what the teacher is trying to teach?  Furthermore, the parents are there and do nothing.  Darbee sits and stares.  She doesn't know how to react.  The kids ignore her because she is not "in their group."  If that is how they behave, I had rather her not.  But...what has happened?

Have the parents given up with discipline?  Are there any parents left out there who care anymore or those of us who do still care the minority now days?  This behavior and way of life seems like the new normal now.  Is this just accepted?  Sorry if it seems like I am venting but this is just something I wanted to get off my chest.  It aggravates me so much!

How do you feel?  Do you notice a change?

Until next time....

R is for Reading

I am caught up!  Yippee!  Why do I let myself fall behind?  

I am glad you stopped by tonight!  For the letter R, I have to share my reader.  

As a treat for the kindergarten class, they get to go with their teacher and read a book to the "little kids."  They practice in their classroom for a bit and then get to make an appointment with another class to go in and read.  On Friday, Darbee got to come to the class I work with and read a book to us.

I was one proud mama.  The book she read was super long.  It took almost 20 minutes!  Our kids were so good and so attentive to her.  She did great!!

That is her teacher, Ms. Susan, holding the book for her.

She is such a sweet teacher!  Darbee loves her.

She got a star reader sticker and a certificate from her teacher.  

She got a prize from me too! :)

She had her first real spelling test on Friday too.  

Look what she made!

Yippee!  

Until next time....

Q is for Quiet Moments

Good evening!  I am trying to catch up!  

For the letter Q, I thought about quiet moments.  With a 6 year old running around, there are very few quiet moments in our house.  I am thankful.  I love the sound of her footsteps running through the house.  I love the sound of her voice and the happy sound of her laughter.  

But...in those rare quiet moments I often stop and thank God for his blessings.  

It doesn't have to be a quiet moment just at home.  It is sometimes in the car on a drive through town.  The car can be quiet and I notice the sky or the sunset.  

In the quiet moments before I drift off to sleep, I often find myself in prayer thanking God for my life and for helping me through another day.

In the quiet moments before I wake Darbee each morning, I find myself thinking about the day ahead of me and often find myself asking God to help me through the day and walk with me.

Do you talk to God often?  I do.  I find myself talking to him a lot during the day.  It's not long elaborate prayers but often times just a quick sentence or two.

I love my quiet moments.  Do you?

P is for Priceless Pictures

Those of you who have been following my blog for any amount of time know that I LOVE taking pictures.  I always have a camera with me wherever I go.  I don't want to miss a thing!

A dream of mine is to be a photographer.  I would LOVE it.

I am by no means a professional.  I just love taking pictures.  I thought for this post I would share a few of my priceless poses and priceless pictures.

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...