Happy Birthday Raelynn!

This is my daughter, Raelynn. Tomorrow is her birthday. She will be eight years old. Where has the time gone? Normally, I would post this on her birthday, but tomorrow night is the first night of my graduate class this semester and I'm sure I won't have the time.



Raelynn is a very imaginative and happy person. She loves dressing up, playing with her dolls, and as of late, being fancy. I'm not really sure what the entails, but it's a state of mind in which she continues to strive. She tells jokes that make no sense and draws pictures of me with long, curly blonde hair--I'm a brunette.



Her arrival into this world is a day I won't soon forget. Raelynn was due on February 26th and for some strange reason, I was convinced that she would be born on March 2nd. Neither of those things happened. Basically without going into too much detail, I woke at 5:00 AM on January 11th and went to the bathroom. Something didn't feel right, and I suspected that my water was leaking. I called the doctor and since he was at the hospital, he told me to meet him there. I must have been deluding myself because I really thought that I'd be back to work that morning. I called my teacher friend Debbie, and told her that I was going to the doctor and that I'd be back soon. I called the office secretary and told her too, but since I have this crazy notion that missing work is bad, I convinced them both that I'd be just a little late at school. Debbie offered to watch my students.



I didn't make it back to school.



The doctor confirmed what I already suspected, my water was leaking. He felt that the best course of action would be for me to be airlifted to the nearest hospital with a neo-natal intensive care unit, which happened to be 165 miles away. He wasn't sure if Raelynn would need special care once she was born and he didn't want to take any chances. David wasn't able to fly with me, he had to drive it and hope he made it there before she was born. The doctor at the hospital gave me medication to stay off contractions and I was assigned bed rest. He took me off the medication the next day.... and you guessed it, it became Raelynn's birthday.



Of course she was born via emergency C-section. She was 3 pounds and 15 ounces and 16 1/2 inches long. Most Baby Alive dolls are bigger than she was. Thankfully the Lord watched over us because she had no complications except not having lots of baby fat. They took care of that by hooking her to many machines and pumping liquid fat into her by IV. She left the hospital two weeks later weighing 4 pounds and 7 ounces.



There was a time that I doubted I would even have a child and when I look at her now, I can hardly believe that was my state of mind. I think I was worried that I wouldn't be a good parent and that I would "mess her up." I came to the conclusion that all parents mess up their kids (but they don't mean to) and that what matters is that your parents didn't set out to do it. They just made mistakes that we all make. They did the best they could at the time.



I'm very blessed to be her mother and can't imagine life without her. When I look at her I can't help but think, "Man, David and I make great looking babies!"



Happy Birthday Puddin'!!! Momma loves you so much!

Old Pictures Take Me Back

So some of my friends on facebook have been scanning and posting old pictures. It's been very interesting. I joined the bandwagon and posted some of my own. Maybe sometime I'll post some of them here, if you're interested in seeing me as a youngster.



This particular photo was taken on a sunset catamaran cruise. I had a great time. A friend took this picture and then sent it to me in the mail. I thought it pretty well summed me up. Anyway, I love this photo. Hope you enjoy it too!

What do pajamas, Santa's helper, and Lady Liberty have in common? ME!

As long as the comments (mostly positive) keep coming, I'll add more costume pictures to my blog. This post is a continuation of my previous one. I was looking through some old photos and found some of me while I was teaching in Florida. I chose the ones where I'm dressed up to post because some people keep asking for proof of my sparkling persona's on Fridays...I aim to please so here goes.....

Every year my old school, Sugarloaf Elementary, celebrates Dr. Seuss Day on March 2nd. Each class picks a book and dresses up and make props to carry at a parade we have at school. We also rotated to different stations to make crafts and listen to Dr. Seuss books being read. In this picture, I am modeling the latest fashions for the book I Am Not Getting Up Today by Dr. Seuss. My kids loved coming to school in their pajamas. (I enjoyed it too.) I've always said that my job performance would dramatically improve if I could wear my pajamas and slippers to work. No one seems to think this is a good idea because it hasn't caught on yet. The kid waving in the back is named Dominic and he's now in college. Perhaps I should post this to facebook and tag him...hmmmmmm.

This is one of many Christmas costumes that I wore to school. The student I'm standing with is named Heather and she's currently in college. I should post and tag this picture on facebook too. Heather's mom eventually made me red collar with bells on it to go with this outfit. I wear it each year. Take note of Heather's shoes. I made those. Several girls that year brought me shoes and asked if I could make them elf shoes. I made some for myself too but this was taken at the end of the day and my feet hurt so I took them off. Just so you know, most of my students dressed up like elves too. You may not be able to tell, but behind me are Christmas lights hanging from the ceiling. I eventually got in trouble for all these lights (I think I had about 6 strands looped from the ceiling) and had to take them down. Now that I'm at a new school in a new state, I put my lights back up. There are about 7 strands of Christmas lights in my room year round. They look tacky but I love them.

This is a picture of me dressed as the Statue of Liberty. I had worn this to school and liked it so much that I wore it to a faculty Halloween party. I got the hat while on a trip to New York. My torch is really a flashlight because I was too lazy to make a realistic looking one. I still use this sheet in my classroom. I use it to cover my computers at night.

I found some other pictures and will scan them this weekend when I have some time....it's been a long day and The Office was a rerun tonight....funny but disappointing. I think I'll go be sad a little while I consider what to wear tomorrow. Any suggestions you may have are always welcome....

By Popular Demand

So I was looking through some old photos yesterday and found some I had packed away from teaching in Florida. Sadly, I haven't taken as many pictures as I should have on my "Dress Up Fridays." Because some people **cough cough--you know who you are** constantly remind me of how I need to post them, I thought I'd try to oblige. I figured out how to scan some pictures without tearing my hair out. So I'll post some here and add to them.

This first picture was during my first year of teaching. I know, I know....I don't age, right? The social studies curriculum in third grade in Florida consists of studying ancient cultures. After we learned about the Greeks, we had a toga day. I let students decide if they wanted a traditional toga or if they wanted to put a "spin" on it. I chose to spin mine as you can tell.

I love this picture. The principal at my school had a school-wide theme each year for Open House in the fall. The theme for this school year was a western theme. Most people just put up a bulletin board, but I couldn't just leave it at that. I have to go over the top.

This was taken during our feast after studying the Egyptians in social studies. We had several centers we had the kids go through. We had authentic food, games, and crafts. We did this grade-wide so it was a lot of work.

This picture was taken before a "Hippie Party." I know that I wore this same outfit to school as a costume, but I didn't take a picture of it. The other girl in the picture is my friend Julie. We had lots of fun at this party.

I have other pictures but in the interest of not making my computer explode from overheating with all my scanning, so I'll add those another time. Please feel free to comment, but if you don't like my costumes....please lie to me!

Yeehaw! Look At Me!

So today I thought I would share with you something that I did over Christmas break that I'm proud of. I. rode. a. horse. all. by. myself. For some of you, this may not seem like a big deal but I must assure you that for me it is INCREDIBLY huge. I'm not what you would call an outdoorsy kind of person and I'm not particularly fond of large animals. When you put these two together, you would think that riding horses is something that I wouldn't ever start. And you'd be correct in that assumption.



For those of you that know my husband David even a little, you know he really enjoys doing stuff outside and working with horses. One of the reasons we moved to Mississippi is so that we could live somewhere with enough land to have horses. We currently have three. The horse I'm sitting on is named Megan. Raelynn is sitting on Cricket, and standing behind David is Magic, the most recent addition to the herd. We've been living here for six years and I can count the number of times I've been on these horses on the fingers of one hand and have several fingers left over.



In addition to just having horses, David wants to teach Raelynn to ride too. There have been many times we've gone for walks while David gives Raelynn riding lessons. She ususally rides Cricket and we walk along side of them. To say that Raelynn doesn't like to ride horses is an understatement. What she doesn't quite realize yet is that David is stubborn. She will learn to ride horses. Hopefully one day she'll actually enjoy it.



Lately David has ridden more than he usually does. Having some vacation time allows us to do things we normally don't get a chance to do...like sleep, ride horses, and breathe. In addition to his own riding, he really wants Raelynn and I to join him. I probably don't like horseback riding any more than Raelynn. But to please David and to be a part of a family activity, I rode Megan yesterday and today. And I don't mean some little turn around the yard. I rode her for several miles by myself. David hasn't given me any formal lessons, I think I was able to live through the experience because I learned vicariously through Raelynn's lessons. Whatever I did, it worked. I didn't fall off the horse and she went where I wanted her to go.



Now don't get me wrong, I'm not liking it any more than before. David does lots of things for me that he'd rather not do so I figured I could do the same. And I did. I'm not ready to enter the horse races yet but I feel pretty sure that after all the practice I will get in the future, I'll have me a second career to look forward too....cowgirl.

Romance--Real or Imaginary?

So I've had something on my mind for the last week or so. Romance--or more likely, the allusion of romance. I'm guessing that my many viewings of Twilight haven't helped. Tonight, I was cruising through the channels on TV and I came across a favorite movie of mine: Sabrina. This movie has been done several times. Most people probably like the version with Audrey Hepburn, and as much as I like her, that version isn't my favorite. I really like the version with Harrison Ford and Julia Ormand. Part of the appeal is the romance, part of it is that part of the movie takes place in Paris, France. I've never been to Paris, or Europe for that matter, but it's some place I've always wanted to visit. In my mind it feels like the city would be dripping with romance (of which I'm a big fan) and since most people speak French I wouldn't understand what they are saying. I could just enjoy the romantic qualities that the language has. I could just pretend every one is speaking romantically to each other. I think there are several things in Paris that I'd like to see.

Okay, so who wouldn't want to see the Eiffel Tower? The pictures I've seen make it look so incredible, especially at night. Lots of movies have been filmed there--mostly romantic ones. I believe that Tom Cruise proposed to Katie Holmes there. As much as I don't like heights, I think I'd have no problems with it if I found myself visiting this landmark. I could then also get a magnet for my refrigerator and then say that I've actually been there. So far the closest I've been is when my mom bought me a magnet from her trip to Paris, TN. But still--Paris is Paris.

The Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre are two other things I'd like to see. Part of the Da Vinci Code movie was filmed at the Louvre and I loved it. By the way, that movie isn't what I'd call romantic, but still it's a good movie to watch. People have told me that the French are snobby and that everything is really expensive there. I used to live in Key West, so I know first hand about what expensive and snobby. I'm not sure if I think that if I were to visit these places in Paris that I'd suddenly be struck down with background music playing and have a happily ever after ending. Like I said earlier, it's really just an allusion. No relationship can withstand having romance 24/7. It just wears you out. I've got a great husband and I definitely am not complaining. But anyone who enjoys a good romantic movie knows what I'm talking about. We like the feeling of being swept away and we all have romantic moments that we remember well. I think it's just something that we are exposed to at an early age (all those fairy tales) and the allusion lives on.

As I think about this, I need to revise what I said about romantic movies. I don't enjoy all of them. One that comes to mind is the movie "Love in the Time of Cholera." I watched this because this book was a part of the incredibly romantic movie, "Serendipity." I didn't enjoy the Cholera movie. An example of a romantic movie that I did enjoy was the Jane Austen classic, "Persuasion." This book was mentioned in the incredibly romantic movie, "The Lake House." One movie that stands out is "Somewhere in Time." That one is a little depressing because Christopher Reeve's character dies at the end. David really doesn't like this movie, but I do. But again, all these are movies where the problem is solved in under 2 hours and we never find out what happens when they have their first fight after being swept off her feet.

While watching the movie Sabrina, there was a song that came on that I thought was just so perfect. The song is called La Vie en Rose. The lyrics are:

Hold me close and hold me fast

The magic spell you cast

This is la vie en rose

When you kiss me heaven sighs

And tho I close my eyes

I see la vie en rose

When you press me to your heart

I'm in a world apart

A world where roses bloom

And when you speak...angels sing from above

Everyday words seem...to turn into love songs

Give your heart and soul to me

And life will always be La vie en rose

I thought it was a very romantic song. And the movie is set in Paris. But maybe it isn't and it's just all an allusion. Either way, real or allusion, I feel good. And that's all that really matters.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! This is a great day of beginnings. It's like your past year is an Etch-A-Sketch that you can shake clean and start over again. You can be anything you want to be and do anything you want to do. Many people make New Year's resolutions....most do not keep them.

This would also include me. I do have some things I want to do differently this year. Before I can do them, I need to come up with a plan. It's one step in front of the other, one day at a time. I believe there's a saying that a trip of a thousand miles starts with one step. And here I go, stepping into 2009. Keep an eye out for me....I'll be the one that is shaking her head like an Etch-A-Sketch to get a clean screen.