60 and beautiful!

I hope everyone had as wonderful a day as we did. It is warm and beautiful. There was a blue sky and we were outside all day. The kids loved it.

Of course Nick had to get in some sliding practice today. Check out the knees.

And play in the sand. Which is now good and wet from the bad weather. Caroline played on the swing set and climbed a couple of trees. All of us enjoyed being out.

I am finally feeling much better and hope to stay this way. The kids both have croup but they can go to school with it. CAroline started feeling bad this morning, but after a breathing treatment, and some aspirin she had a good day!

Finally, this is a pic from our last family movie night. Betcha can't guess what we watched???? Spy kids. Get it???? disguises!

That is about all from here. I have finals this week. I have an A in Lit and a B in Algebra. Looking forward to my next set of classes.

Have a good week!

"icky"ness

The ick has invaded again. This time we all got some form of it even John. Caroline another double ear infec, NIck croup, and John and I have the same stuff. Yuck, Yuck, Yuck. I hope it leaves soon!

I'm sitting hear at 2:13am Feb. 28! I'm now 34. I can't get comfortable to get to sleep. But since I can't I thought I would update the blog. My classes are going very good. Next week is the last week. Then I start ethics and photography. JOhn is being very supportive and the kids are more than supportive. They are so cute when I go and come home.

The kids are 6 now (I know you know that) and enjoying every moment. Not a lot changed with this birthday like in the past. Usually there was a sudden change with the turn of another birthday. The new thing are birthday parties. They have been invited to 3 right now. They have lots of friends at school. They get very excited about their friends parties. It is cute.

Ok I'm rambling I'm heading back to bed to try again after more medicine. I hope everyone is doing good. I'll update soon with pictures.

Icy madness

Well we are iced in here in the 'ville. We got out of school today at 11:15. John was home by 1:00 and we all took a nap. How funny is that???? The kids think it was so cool that we got out of school early.

We were off yesterday because the kids were sick again. Nick Pink eye and Caroline another ear infection. Both are on meds and seem to be feeling better.

I had school last night and got my second paper back with an A!!!!! Whoo Hoo! I found out yesterday that I can take photography 1 and 2 and it will count for the 2 art classes I have to take. I'm very pumped about that. If you know me you know I love pics and to take pics. Next 6 weeks I will be going to school mon, tues and wed nights. I have an extra night bc I have to take a university studies class that is only 1 hour so it only meets 3 times. That is my wednesday night class. I think this will beat sunday mornings 8-12.

I'm really enjoying school. It is going fast so far and I can't wait to finish and have a classroom of my own. The kids are being very supportive. Nick asks every time I get home if I got my name moved(disciplined) or if I made new friends. He is so cute and loving.

That is about it from here for now. Here are a couple pics.

Busy*ness!

Well after a week of the flu and a cancelled birthday party....I am better, but both kids are running fevers and very grumpy. Just my luck. We had big plans to visit the Uhls' today, but couldn't take the chance on making them sick again!

Here is the run down of the past week.

I had class on Wednesday night, where I got a B on my first essay! Whoo Hoo! I went back to "school" work on Thursday. I am back to work full time in a kindergarten class next door to the kids. It is very interesting and much different from 1st grade. But I'm enjoying it. It is good to be back to work and with the kids all day.

This weekend was busy with lots of homework (for me) and playing for the kids. We had a small family gathering at our house for the kids birthday. We had to cancel the party we had scheduled last weekend so The Potts' family came over this weekend. Here are the cakes they picked out this year. I made these cakes the weekend before and John wrapped them so I wouldn't have to make them again. Needless to say I wouldn't let anyone eat the cake. The kids had fun blowing the candles out several times and cutting the cake (that no one ate).

With our fevers and grumpyness we headed out today to Build a Bear. Caroline's favorite place in the world. Caroline made the new pink rainbow bunny and Nick made a puppy that barks and wags its tail. They are so cute when they get in that store.

Here they are dressing their new animals. Nick chose a Lville shirt, jeans and a leather jacket. Caroline chose a blue striped shirt, denim skirt and shoes.

I took these pictures to try and show how tall the kids have gotten. I can't believe my babies are 6.
I'm hoping everyone will be well enough to go to school tomorrow. I'm heading off to write another essay on Irish drama and the kids are getting ready for bed. My sickness saved you from my emotional*ness of the kids birthday. They had a great birthday despite me having the flu and are very happy to be 6 now. Caroline told me Friday morning on the way to school that she wasn't going to cry anymore bc she is 6 now. How long do you think that lasted??? Not long.

Alright off to do homework. Hope you are all well!

We're 6!

Ok I'm a little late with this post, but I have been very sick. Saturday was the twins 6th birthday. Happy BIrthday to NIck and CAroline and also a very Happy BIrthday wish to Riley whose birthday is also on the 9th.

The kids were very excited about their birthday this year. They wanted to invite the whole class to a party. So we invited the whole class to a pool party at a local indoor pool. It was a hit! Very successful. Most of these pictures are self explainitory.

Here is the Smartcycle. John and I gave the kids this for their birthday. They love it and have played with it nonstop. It has about 6 games that go with it and it plugs into the tv and they pedal to make it go. So they get a little education, a little exercise, and a little fun all in one.

Ok today we are snowed in. School is closed, Humana is closed and we are chillin' out. The kids are outside playing in the snow while it is raining, John is doing some work , and I am updating the blog and doing some school work. They are loving sledding down the front yard today bc we got ice on top of our 4 in of snow. I got it on video I will post later. Right now I'm Getting ready to go lay down for a while. I got sick saturday night and have been in the bed since sunday morning after school. We had to cancel the kids family bday party bc of the sickness and still haven't rescheduled. I haven't been this sick for a very very long time. I think Melanie gave me the flu through the phone. Ha Ha I'm kidding. But I still haven't made it to the dr. Every time I go to Kroger there is a line a mile long and my dr hasn't had any apts for days. I have been up since about 9:00 and it is 11:00 which is the most in 2 days. I do feel a tinsy bit better today. I have been up for two hours and that is a major accomplishment, but I've run down so I'm headed back to bed.

Today I have to write a 600word essay and read another play. Plus work on my algebra. So I'm hoping for another couple of up hours after laying down.

Can you believe my kids are 6???? Me either. It was fun watching them be so excited this year. They were so funny with all their friends. We had 24 show up for the party. So all their friends were there and they had a blast. It was definitely worth all the work to see their faces and how much they enjoyed themselves. Ok I'm rambling. Have a good day!

The NEW DO

If you know anything about me, you know I have horrible luck getting my haircut. That is why I have held on to Ashleigh the babysitter for so many years. Now she is going to school, working, and has a very very serious boyfriend. Needless to say she doesn't have much time to cut and color my hair. Sooooooo I took the kids up to Supercuts last week to get their haircut and scoped out the girls while I was in there. Wow! The one I picked is good!

Here is the new me!

What do you think? I was a nervous wreck. The funny thing is John can't stand to have to deal with me after a bad haircut so he was a nervous wreck too. He was glad to see how excited I was when I got home. Yes I miss Ashleigh, but she is very busy. So I took a chance. Thank goodness it worked out.

The rest of the weekend was good. We had a small party for the superbowl (yeah Giants). The rest of the weekend the kids played outside. The weather has been wonderful, but today it is raining.

So it is raining, I have a 600word essay due tomorrow and I woke up with a horrible headache. I'm hoping the day gets a little better. Ok I'm off to write about Irish Literature. What fun.

*Survival*

Yes I survived 4 hours of Algebra. It was non-stop and intense, but I made it and held my own. She only gave us 5min breaks per hour. It took 4 hours to go over 5 chapters. Whew this one is going to crazy hard. I will survive!!!!

The rest of the weekend has been great. A fairly quiet weekend at home. Got lots of stuff done on Saturday. Even got a haircut, color and my eyebrows waxed. It was great. Valentine's are almost finished and family birthday invites will go out Monday. Whoo hoo!

Caroline seems to be feeling some better. She did ask if she could stay home from school tomorrow. What do you think the answer was?? Nick has had a very busy weekend building trains, playing army man sand box, and baseball. Nothing is going to slow that boy down.

On the agenda for tomorrow is a nice long walk, a 600 word essay, and 3 more chapters in math. Caroline has dance and I'm keeping Amelia for Lesley in the morning. Should be fun.

My goal for the week is to have a better at home week than I did last week. I've got to get this staying home by myself thing down. I know some of you are sitting out there reading this thinking she is crazy. I would love to have the house all to myself for a day. I bet I can guess who is thinking that. I just don't enjoy it. Too quiet, too slow, too by myself. But after much prayer I'm giving this week another chance and I'm going to make the best of it and learn to like it. You're probably asking why don't you get another job? Well, it is possible that there will be a job available at St. Matthews Elem. in the very near future. So John and I are holding out to see if it is in the plan. Plus, I'm getting into this whole school thing again and thought it would be a good time for an adjustment period.

Ok enough about me. Here are some pics of the kids from last week. I haven't downloaded the ones from this weekend. The first one is of their new haircuts. The kids and Sallie all got cuts in the same day.

This is from a few weeks back, but Caroline is trying to make a snow angel. I think she forgot how to. This pic makes me laugh so hard. She is hillarious.

That is all from here. Hope you have a good week.

The Long (getting used to ) week!

You all know my full time sub job at school ended on Monday when Jordan left. Everyone keeps telling me it will be fine, but I don't like being home alone. I know I should love the quiet and use the time to get tons of stuff done. I wasted the whole week. I didn't even clean the house. I'm getting my act together this weekend though and not going to do that this coming week.

The good stuff. The kids at school had a party for me Tuesday afternoon. They all made me cards and got me this Thank you Angel. I had such a good time visiting with the kids and getting to talk to them. I miss them all like crazy. I get to wave to them and talk to them occasionally in the halls, but nothing like being with them all day in the room. Oh well, I will get used to it. Here is a pic of the cards and angel.

The kids had a good week at school. The big excitement of the week was "Lunch Bunch" on Friday. This is where they get to eat in the room with Ms. Hunt. If you have to move your name for behavior issues you don't get to participate in lunch bunch. Nick and Caroline got to and they were sooooo excited.

I started school on Wednesday night with my Modern Irish Drama class. It was interesting, but will be a lot of work. I will have a 600 word essay due each week. I can handle it though. I have my first algebra class Sunday morning. I'm a little nervous about the math.

Today Caroline had to go back to the dr. She has another ear infection and is having trouble breathing. I couldn't believe it. She woke up at 4:00am wheezing horribly. So she is doing breathing treatments until she gets better.

We are also looking forward to the Superbowl tomorrow. The kids want to decorate for it and make football cookies. So we are making construction paper footballs and sugar cookies with icing. WE also have a family night movie to watch this weekend too. Busy, busy!

I think that is all for now. Have a good weekend. I will post more pics after our decorating.

*sad News* Good News

Meet Jordan. I'm sure most of you have heard me talk about him. Look at that gorgeous face. It is not possible to spend time with him and not fall in love. Jordan has Autism. I have learned a lot about Autism since beginning my work with him. His story is very simple (yet very complicated). He can not function in a regular classroom or on a 1st grade level, which is where he was at St. Matthews Elementary. It was very obvious from the start of school that he did not have the ability to stay in a regular room and not be a constant distraction. So in comes Mrs. Potts. Helping and caring for Jordan is what I have spent my time at work doing. Now that has come to an end. Jordan has been excepted to another school to be in an Autistic unit. This is where all the kids in his class are Autistic and he will have one on one help. This is the best possible setting for him and he will succeed in this environment. Yes I knew from my first day that it was possible he would leave. I just never thought it would be so hard to say good bye.





Good bye came today. He starts at his new school tomorrow. He is very excited about going to his new "big school". Yes I cried, and cried, and cried.


Here are some of my favorite times with Jordan.


1. playing roll the ball in the hallway.


2. Him saying Mrs. Potts


3. Eating lunch with him.


4. The smile on his face when he saw the treat in my lunchbox for him.


5. Taking him outside to the playground and spinning him around on the spinners. (very theraputic for Autistic children)


6. Him grabbing my face and holding it when trying to talk to me.


7. His huge smile.





I am going to miss him very, very much. For those of you that didn't know Jordan leaving means I don't have my job in Mrs. Armstrong's class anymore. I will still be working at the school as a sub, but in different rooms. I'm hoping for a full time position sooner or later. Tomorrow I am going back to say goodbye to the class I have been with. Yes I will cry again. It is impossible to spend everyday with them and not get attached. I have had a wonderful experience and it has helped me know for sure what I want to do with the rest of my life. Teach!


I'm leaving you with one last picture. This is the very awesome class and teacher that I have been with since Sept.

Please keep me in your prayers that another job becomes available at this school. It has been such a wonderful experience.

I will update everyone about school and the kids tomorrow. Right now I just wanted to give Jordan the credit he deserves for how he has touched my life. I will never forget him.

A SNOWY Day!

Ok glad I could make you laugh. Can you believe his sister did that to him? Crazy kids. Today we woke up to snow and a 2 hour delay at school. The kids got to play in the snow before school. They tried to make a snowman, but really don't know how. So funny.

What is going on here??? I'm working on birthday arrangements and Valentine's Day before starting school next week. I'm going to wrap it up tonight and will post more tomorrow night.

My lil' COWBOY!!

Well, if this doesn't make you laugh nothing will. This is Nick's impression of riding a horse. John and I watched a cowboy movie a couple nights ago, then last night he came in "riding". Sorry it is turned sideways, but you have to watch it. Hillarious. Check out Nick's cool cough. We've been doing that for 12 days. Nick got a duplicate game so when we returned it he picked out the guns, holster, and handcuffs.

I have been participating in a challenge "365 album". You take a picture everyday and put them in an album. I was playing around with my camera last night and this turned out to be my favorite picture so far. I love the way our legs/feet are in the background (darker) and hands in the front.

Right now John and me are watching American Idol. My favorite are the auditions when the crazy people are on. I have laughed so hard. Everybody needs a good laugh.

Hopefully, everyone will be back at school tomorrow. Have a good day!

Hello from the 'ville!

Well we are still breathing (even if it is with a nebulizer) here in sickville! Nick got sick Saturday Jan. 5. He was out of school all last week with croup. He went to school on Friday even though he didn't really feel like it, but we were back at the dr today. Now he has pneumonia and a double ear infection. He looks horrible and has really had us worried. Caroline also got up sick this morning and has an ear infection. I can't believe was are sick again.

Oh well enough of that. In case you didn't know I am going back to school to get my teaching degree. I registered for classes on Friday. My first 2 classes are Christian Traditions (which I am very excited about) and college math. I start Jan 29. They told me it would take about 2 years going nights and weekends. They did away with the online options. You rotate classes every 6weeks. I am very excited and looking forward to getting started. (and finished)

If you have time check out this post on HeatherAnnMelzer. I absolutely love this color (Clinton Brown) and the room of course, but especially the color. Thinking about it for the living room before I order a slip cover for the couch. We just got this desk at Goodwill for living room to put the computer on and for me to do homework so we are trying to do some decorating which I can't do without an Uhls', Dean, or Barfield. Any tips or suggestions girlies????

This is Caroline playing legos in her bed today after some meds and a trip to the dr. She loves these new legos they make a house and little kids (the girls have pig tales...the cutest). She has been in this postion for about 5 hours now. You know she feels bad to stay in one place for this long. Hopefully, she will feel better tomorrow.

That is all for now. Have a good week.

A VISIT WITH THE UHLS'

Check out those cheeks! After 6 long months we finally got to spend some time with the Uhls' Family. WE had an awesome day. Reed looks so good and is so very sweet. Riley has gotten so big and my kids had a blast playing with him. Soliders was the big game of the day. The boys looked so cute with their guns running through the house talking to each other. Caroline played for a little while, but my little mother was more interested in Reed and of course spending time with Aunt Mel.

Here is the very cute video I got of Reed. I can't believe how well he is moving around and how happy he is. He has a very contagious smile.

Caroline wanted to read Reed's favorite books to him and he listend for a little while, but mom wasn't finished so she followed him around on her knees still reading. It was so funny. Here she is reading to him.

Reed enjoyed playing this

balloon game with

Caroline too. He was

quite taken with her and

she with him.

I also got to do my favorite

thing feeding a bottle. It was

very different from the

summer. In July he just

laid in my lap, now he is

moving around every-

where and holding his

own bottle.

Riley was running around so much I didn't get many pictures of him. My kids love his bunk bed. Nick came running downstairs yelling Mom this is so awesome. You have to come upstairs and see this. They have been talking about them ever since our visit.

Ok. I think I have enough pictures. I just couldn't pick my favorites. I had so many. We had a great time and can't wait to go back.

Now, let me update you on what is going on here. Nick has been sick since Sunday morning. He has croup. I stayed home with him today and got several treatments in him and made him lay in the bed all day and rest. He will be out of school the rest of the week. Speaking on school Caroline was testing in reading today and you won't believe this, but she is reading on a beginning 1st grade level. How about that. They like for them to be at a level 3 or 4 at the end of the year and she is already at a 4. I am so proud of her. I guess all those late nights are paying off. I hear scholarship in her future. Ha ha!

Alright I'm heading off to bed incase Nick is up during the night. Enjoy all the pics of the Uhls boys.

Family Movie Night! / New Year's Eve

Hope you enjoyed my Christmas pictures.

We decided this year we wanted to have a family movie night. We chose Underdog for our first movie. As I was keeping up with my blogs I ran across this idea. So I copied it.

Here we are in our capes. I made these out of a $1 plastic table cloth. I also made dog biscuit sugar cookies using a candy cane cookie cutter. I cut the curve off the candy cane and then rolled balls of dough and put them on the ends. Here are the before and after. They were very good.

The kids loved doing "something" special for the movie. Caroline said it was the best night of her life. Isn't that funny. We all wore our capes and ate cookies while watching the movie. We plan on doing this every week.

Before I new it New Year's Eve was here. It was a cold day here and we stayed in most of the day. We decided to eat veggie soup, go see Alvin and the chipmunks, roast marshmallows, and then ring in the new year with Dick CLark. We ate soup and made the movie. This is hillarious. If you haven't seen it yet you need to go. The focus on the family says there is bathroom humor and if you are curious what that is it is them talking about how big theodore's butt it and saying "Dave wears stinky underwear". If you can get past that it is the best kids movies I've seen in a while. We all really enjoyed it. When we left the movie it was pouring rain so the marshmallows were out for the night. We rang in the new year with Dick Clark, party poppers, and special toasting drink (sprite and Cherry flavoring). It was a special night for us as a family. The kids learned all about new years and enjoyed all the popping and special drinks. One serious thing we did was go around and tell our favorite parts of the past year. It warmed my heart to hear the kids tell theirs. They were very sweet.

Yesterday we spent the day in Lex. with the Uhls' Family. I will update the pics tomorrow. Hope you enjoy this.