preschool night

Tonight was preschool night at the basketball game at Lighthouse. They said the pledge to the bible, Christian and American flag and sang a song after each pledge. Hunter did great!! They were all so cute.

Here is just a short video of them singing and started a pledge. 

 They then had a basketball relay that was really funny. 

safe place

 We had bad storms last night or really early this morning. Derrick decided that we should head to the basement. I had hoped the kids would stay asleep, but that did not happen. Look how happy they look and how unhappy I look.

 Proof we were all 4 in our safe place.

 They loved watching the news on Dad's phone.

 Since there was no sleeping it was a good thing we had toys. Hunter said, "I am glad I have my toys down here."

Hannah decided that she would play too, since we were hanging out so long. We were glad that they passed after about an hour and we were able to go back upstairs and back to sleep for a little while.

bible study

I am so excited to be back with my bible study girls. We started doing week one and I love it. I can't wait to meet with them Thursday night. If you are looking for a great study you should do this one.

volleyball and snack mix

 We went out to support the Teacher's Pets today. They played a great game. I was very impressed with their skills. I am scared of the ball so I make a much better cheerleader.

Becky made this snack mix for our Sunday School Christmas party, then she brought some on our Girl's trip. It is so good. She sent me the recipe and I finally made some. It is so good. Thanks for sharing the recipe. I am sure I will be making it often.

a vampire and the Zoo Run Run

 Hannah was playing dress up this morning and decided she wanted to be a vampire. She did her own makeup. Pretty good.

 

 Hannah was excited to run the Zoo Run Run again this year. She has looked forward to doing this race since last year. We were excited to dress up this year. We were zebras in case you could not tell.

 How did she get go big. It is hard to believe that she is old enough to run a 5k with me.

Running!!!!

Waving to the friends cheering her on at the finish!

 I am blessed to work with all of these ladies. I am glad they were all able to do the Zoo Run Run!

One of my favorite Zebras.

 While we were waiting on the race to start Hannah was in the middle of us, trying to stay warm. We thought it looked cute. Thanks Mrs. Russell for taking her picture. It is my favorite picture of the day.

Papa and Nana

Hunter was excited to help Papa and Nana cook spaghetti for dinner. I am not brave enough to let him near hot things, but they said he did great. I am thankful that Mama and Daddy are here for the weekend. Derrick and I are going out with friends tonight to celebrate Jeremy's birthday. I know the kids will have a great time with Papa and Nana.

ready to run

Hannah is running in the ING Kid Rock Marathon again this year. She is excited that this year she gets to run a full mile on the course. Mrs. Osburn makes these trackers for them to keep up with their running. We are proud of her for running again this year. I am excited to get to run the mile with the first graders this year.

demolition has begun

 Yes, that is a counter top and sinks in the living room floor. That can only mean one thing....Derrick started working on the kids bathroom. It is the last room in their "wing" that needs to be redone.

 I am always amazed at all the things he can do. I am blessed to have such a wonderful handy man.

As much as I love to remodel and have projects completed, I hate the actual construction part. This picture is why. I really like for everything to be in its home. I can handle messes for a little while, but not long. I will try to take and post pictures of the progress as he goes.

busy Sunday

 After church and lunch Mrs. Julia came and picked Hannah up to go to the Volleyball game. Hannah and Aniyah were good cheerleaders. The Teacher's Pets won! Way to go!!!!

 It was finally sunny today. I think Gypsy was just as happy as we were to see and fill the warmth of the sun.

 Hunter loves to help Derrick. Derrick has been working on the basement while he has been off. He built shelves and refinished a cabinet that was in the basement when we moved in. This is going to be our arts and crafts area.

It is getting there. Doors, drawer fronts and a counter top to go. 

This is Hunter's new favorite thing to do. He had to show Mrs. Julia when she brought Hannah home. I think he just likes to try to give her a heart attack.

girl's weekend

 Our first stop was dinner in Chattanooga. We ate at Taco Mamacita and it was so good. Tara and I shared the Sloppy Joe Nachos.

After a much longer ride than we expected we finally made it to our hotel in Atlanta. We had to stay up and talk for a little while. Probably around 3am we decided to get some sleep so we would be ready to shop in a few hours.

After breakfast at the hotel we made our first stop.

 We made a quick stop by a wonderful doughnut shop that one of Tara's coworkers had told her about. It was very yummy. I decided to get doughnuts for the kids to have for breakfast tomorrow morning.
We left there and headed to IKEA. Some of the girls had never been and that is how the weekend came about. We did not want our friends missing out on such a great place. Here we are ready to shop.

Several hours later we made it to the bottom floor. We laughed that we should have taken an after picture. Little sleep plus lots of shopping made for some very tired girls. I think everyone found good things.

The carts full and one flat cart is not bad for six of us, right? I think we all had a great time. It was nice to get away with girls for the weekend. I think we will make girls weekend a tradition. I hope more girls can join us next time. Thanks girls for a great weekend. Thanks husbands for hanging out with the kids or alone all weekend so we could all go.

sweet buddy

Hunter almost never stays in his bed all night long. He hates to sleep by himself. Most night we let him sleep in Hannah's bed or let her sleep in his bed with him. That use to work well. Now even if he is sleeps in her bed he still gets up at some point, usually about 3am and come to get in bed with us. We use to take him back to his bed, if we felt him get in bed with us, but he would always end up back in our bed. No we just put him in the chair. I really think he can sleep anywhere. As much as I wish he would stay in his bed all night I love getting to see his sweet face as soon as I wake up.

hopeful

Well, yet again there was no ice to keep us out of school today. In protest I did not get up until 7am. I still left here at 7:35 and was not late to work. I am hoping there will be LOTS of snow days in February. I am ready for the sun to shine. Hunter asked me today if the sun was ever going to come out again. I told him I was not sure but I hope it will soon. We all need to get outside and get some energy out, my personal kids and my kids at school are getting really restless. If it is not going to snow I just want the sun to shine.

maybe tomorrow

I am sad that we did not have a snow (ice) day today. Hunter woke up this morning and game running in our room. He looked out the window and said, "Hey, there is no snow out there! I am turning my pj's back around." I was disappointed too. We have an ice storm warning tonight so maybe we will get an ice day tomorrow.

fun

 As a teacher I LOVE snow days. It was very cold and there was a little sleet, snow, rain mixture today at dismissal. I told my kids that if they wear their pj's backwards and flush two ice cubes it may help us have a snow day. Mrs. Russell told Hannah the same thing. Hunter wanted in on the fun. You know he loves stay at home days. We flushed more than 4 ice cubes. We were thinking the more the better the chance.

 

There are several of us doing the Zoo Run Run in a few weeks. We decided that we should make tutus and dress up a little for this run. We are going with a zebra theme. I made Hannah's tutu tonight while I watched The Biggest Loser. I will make mine tomorrow.

 Tulle cut and ribbon ready.

 Getting there. It took me a few times to get in a good rhythm and then it went really fast.

So cute!!!! I can't wait to show her in the morning.

randomness

We had a good morning at church. After church we took the kids to Toys R Us to spend their gift cards. Thanks Aunt Gay and Uncle Robby. Hannah got a bow and arrow from Brave and Hunter got a police car and motorcycle and an Iron man that rides a four-wheeler. Hannah made a target to shoot as soon as we got home. It has been very rainy again today so we spent the day inside. I had Hannah try on these socks for the Zoo Run Run and she did not want to take them off. She even wanted to sleep in them. They are a little big but she wanted to have socks like the "big girl." She is so excited about the race. We are making our tutus after school Tuesday. I am so excited. I think went to dinner with the bible study girls last night and we had a great time. We went to LifeWay after we ate to look at bible studies. I bought two more books. These are the books I want to read this year. I also want Seven but they were sold out last night. I will get it after I read these. I need to do a little reading and get in the bed. I hope everyone has a great week. I am praying for SNOW!!!!

a good rainy day act

 Hannah was excited to try out her pottery wheel. Hunter was a helper and pushed the button to make it go so she could focus on making her pot. It really turned out to be a cupcake. We are letting it dry so she can paint it.

my heart is full

 Hannah has been reading her Jesus Calling book every night since January 1st. Tonight we had a discussion about trusting Jesus. She asked me what I trust Jesus for. I told her that I trust Him to take care of her and Hunter. The devotion was about trusting all the time. I told her the hardest time or when I had to trust Him the most was when she was in my belly. She said, " I am glad you trusted Him and I am here." She prayed the sweetest prayer tonight. I had tears in my eyes listening to her pray. I pray that she will one day have a wonderful relationship with Jesus.

Hunter said really sweet prayers too. I pray the same for him. He wanted to read tonight from his book. He is so proud of himself for reading the first page all by himself. He almost has it memorized word for word. 

reflecting and looking forward

I had the best time off. I finished all of my school work before break and did not do any school related work the whole time. It was WONDERFUL!!!!!! While eating dinner on New Year's Day I asked everyone what their favorite part of 2012 was.
Here are the answers:
Hunter - riding trains - Thomas, at Dollywood, at the zoo and at Disney
Hannah - going to Kentucky and staying with Aunt Kim
Derrick and I - going to California for our 10 year anniversary

Then I asked everyone to tell me one thing they wanted to do in 2013.
Here are our responses:
Hunter - go to Kentucky
Hannah - spend the night with Kylie
Me - finishing reading the bible all the way through
Derrick - take the kids to Kansas

I can't say I am excited about going back to work tomorrow, but I can say I had a great break and I am well rested.

best friends and slowing down

 Hannah saw these best friend necklaces when we were shopping during fall break and MeMe bought them for her. Thanks MeMe! She wanted to give one to Kylie and we meant to at the Halloween party. Well, then came November and December and we kept forgetting. Last night after we picked Kylie up I reminded Hannah we had them and told them I would give them to them in the morning. They were so excited to be dressed alike and have their necklaces. I had to go to school for a little while and they were very good. They ate a snack and watched a movie while I worked. We enjoyed a nice lunch date at Chick-fil-a complete with playing and ice cream. We came back to the house and they were able to play outside in the playhouse for a little while before we had to go get Buddy and meet Kylie's dad. I am glad they were able to have such a good time together. I got to listen to little girl giggles all day.

Showing that they fit together!

 

 

 Tonight we snuggled up on the couch and watched Cinderella II. It was really cute. I did not know there was a II, but there is and also a III. We will hopefully watch it sometime this weekend. I am not always good at stopping and just being with the kids. I am going to work on that this year. I loved watching a show with them and having them right beside me.

They love sleeping on the couches. We only let them when it is not a school night. Tonight they wanted to sleep in their sleeping bags on the couches. Good night!