Busy week ahead.

Wow this week ought to be interesting! My dad is out of town so my brother and I are helping take care of my grandparents. He called tonight requesting haircuts for my Grandaddy and himself. When your almost 75 yr old Grandaddy has a request..... well you do whatever it takes. Raegan and I cooked them dinner and then I cut their hair. You would have thought Grandaddy was getting ready for a date..... it was the cutest thing and we teased him about not staying out too late. He got a big kick out of it, even though he really doesn't go anywhere. I told him that if he stayed out too late we'd pull the string in. Now I know most of you don't know what that means but to us its a classic Grandaddy joke that he used to tell us when we were teenagers wanting to stay out late. Back in the old days (when he was a teen) they didn't have door locks. Instead, they had a hole in the door with a string. When he got home he knew he was locked out if they had already pulled the string in.......which sometimes meant sleeping outside on the porch. I wonder if we practiced that today would it encourage kids to be home by curfew.

This week I start before/after school remediation which will be ongoing for the next 5 weeks to prepare our kids for the state Biology test. I will add 2 hours a day to my teaching/ work day as well as do the ACT administering on Saturday. Scott is still training to pass the physical part of the Firefighter test. He has passed the written portion and now is eligible for the physical test which requires the completion of a rigorous obstacle course in 10 minutes. Did I mention while wearing 75 lbs. for part of it and 50 lbs. for the other half. He has been working with his dad daily and they are planning to set up a mach course this weekend. The test is next Tuesday. He's only had 2 weeks to prepare. YIKES!!! I'm nervous for him.

Raegan is talking more and more every day and I continue to be amazed by all that she can say and do. She is very quiet and laid back most of the time but when she warms up to you then she is wide-open. She really takes after us so much. We are trying hard to teach her some manners. She is saying please, thank you, and ma'am but its a work in progress. We are trying to teach her as we go....don't know if its the best but you live and learn.

We have so much going on this week that I think I will need to schedule a nap. Who knows....maybe 2 naps. Even though I have more responsibilities to take care of than I could've ever imagined, I am thankful that God has provided me the means to care for my family and their needs. One day the tables will be turned. I will be a little slower, a little older, my hair a little more gray, my spirit a little more broken and I hope that when that time comes that someone will love and care for me unconditionally. Time is a precious gift.

Back to work, staying busy

Well its been a little tough to be back at work while my sweet Raegan is having fun at home. I miss her sweetness when I'm gone. Work has been keeping me busy. My kiddos make me laugh everyday but being with them never compares to my baby girl. Sometimes I think of them like little souls trapped in teenage bodies. They require the same love, attention, and affection as the little ones. Its funny how that works out, huh? They just want you to love them! Well apparently since my principals know I'm a homebody and that I will probably not be leaving my hometown High School anytime soon they've been training me to do all sorts of things. I NEVER miss work unless I am really bad sick but this semester I have had to get subs for these training meetings. These sessions are harder than my real job and adults aren't nearly as fun as teenagers to work with. Today we had another all day meeting and the week before Spring Break we had one (plus 2 others before that). Then they said that we'll have atleast one more before school is out. Most people have no idea what teaching is really about. I never realized the time dedication that it takes before I started teaching. However, the rewards are unimaginable. I have been teaching just long enough to really start seeing some of the rewards firsthand. Teachers in a small town are almost like local celebrities. Today I was in a store with my mom and after about 15 people waived and spoke she finally said ....."Do you know everybody in this store?" The other day a girl came up to me and Raegan and introduced me to her mom and proceeded to tell me about college and what she was doing now. She told her mom that after she had me in 10th grade she was inspired to be a biology teacher. Her mom thanked me for the influence I had on her. Of course this was an act of God b/c it just happened to be one of those days that I was thinking..... why in the world do I do this job? Most people think people teach to have summers off but that's only partly true. Raegan is the real reason I desire my summers, not the job.

Well I didn't really mean to ramble about work. I was going to tell you about Raegan (since this is really her site). She loves horses!!!! She plays non-stop with horses and babydolls. She has the heart of a farm girl and I hope one day that she can experience life on the farm. She has compassion for animals and like her mommy would take them all in like Elly Mae Clampett. My husband really didn't know what he was getting into when he married me. I told him that FAMILY was my priority and that if he wasn't a family guy then I wasn't the girl for him. Well, I forgot to tell him about my BIG HEART for animals. He found out the hard way with 3 dogs and a cat. We had a sugar glider that died and I have a turtle at my dad's still. I've had my dog since I was 17 and my turtle since I was 13. Yes, the turtle is almost 15!!!!!!! I have had everything from wild animals to farm animals and even a snake. I said all of this to say that my little Raegan has this same love for animals. (Everything but bugs!) This weekend she did pick up worms so I see a fishing buddy in daddy's future.

Well I guess I'll sign off for the night. I would like to post new pics but they're all on my laptop which is still sick so I am having to use Scott's for now. Have a good week.

A beautiful week

The weather has been beautiful most of the week and we have gotten so many things accomplished. Monday, I cleaned house and spent some much needed time with Raegan. We played babies all day. I've never seen a tot in love with babies more than her. It is precious. Tuesday, we made Raegan's favorite breakfast and thenScott and I along with our little helper took the trash to the dump and cut the grass. Then he went fishing while we took a nap. Ooops forgot to mention that we had lunch and went to the park so somebody could slide. She loves to slide, especially on the BIG ones. Then we went to Target where I got the deal of the week. They had 2G Kodak SD cards for $9 but they were out. It was our lucky day. The nice man in electronics substituted the better Lexar version for the same price. Wednesday, we had our taxes done and then cut my grandparents grass at the farm. It takes a couple of hours when we both cut w/ 2 mowers. Raegan fell asleep 3 times while riding. This girl loves mowing grass....just like her daddy. She keeps going to the shed saying...."Please".... with the cutest little expression, hoping that she can ride. Her Grandaddys have ruined her, with a little help from momma and daddy of course. We also visited my grandparents and then Mamaw stopped by to visit us. She played with Raegan so that I could cut daddy's hair. Today, we took care of errands but then snuck in a little fishing time for the afternoon. It was too windy for Raegan and me so we came back home while daddy indulged. It has been really nice to have him off from work for a few days. His girls have really enjoyed it. Even though we didn't do anything really spectacular we enjoyed our time together and we did get a lot of things accomplished. Now.... if I could just get motivated to do that paper for my class.

Spring Break Eve Countdown

We have had a busy week at work getting ready for Spring Break. Its the end of the grading period. Meetings have kept me busy at work all week. I've had projects due for my class and to top it off we've all had the stomach bug recently. Things have been a little crazy around here. Tomorrow is Spring Break Eve and I cannot tell you how glad I am to be spending a whole week off with my baby girl. Need I mention that she's not a baby anymore. She's a grown up trapped in a tiny body. She amazes me so much at how fast she's learning. Sometimes I truly underestimate her abilities. She's smart, funny, and so full of energy. I've often said that I'm her cheerleader for life and I totally believe that. Children are so impressionable. We spend so much time trying to mold them into what we want them to be instead of just teaching them and then accepting and loving them for who they turn out to be. Don't get me wrong... I have high expectations for her, maybe sometimes too high. I just want her to be proud of herself and confident in her own skin. Raegan, you will always be momma's baby girl. Know that I will always love you for who you are. I am proud every day just because I get the privilege of being your mommy. Someone said recently that to love a child is not something that is ever earned and since it isn't earned then it will never diminish because of any unfavorable circumstance.

Happy Birthday Little Brother. I love you more than you'll ever know.

Love,
Sister

Snow day but no snow...

Ahhhhhhh! Enjoying a day off from work with my sweetheart. It snowed yesterday and we got the day off today for "weather". I'm not complaining.

Raegan is talking up a storm. She is repeating everything we say. Even though some of the things she says is a little distorted we can still understand them. She keeps calling the dog Mae but her name is Macey. She can also say Memaw which made her very happy. Last night she got on the phone and said sing Momma. My heart just melted. I think my favorite is Please. Now if I could just get her to say Thank you with all those requests. She has cut her stomach teeth completely and is still cutting her eye teeth. Potty training is still a work in progress. She is exclusively in pull-ups now but I'm just not brave enough to let her go all day in real underwear. It seems like she is growing way too fast. I was holding her last night telling her about when she was a little baby and how tiny she was compared to now. She loves for me to tell her about being a baby which is a little sad because she doesn't see herself as one anymore. Instead, she plays momma wrapping her babies up in their blankies and caring for them. She begs to have her nails painted and play dress up. Where did that time go? People see how big she's getting and always inquire when there will be another one. I'm still in grad school right now so we're still waiting until that task is complete but it doesn't get far from our thoughts.