thrilling.

Oh, I'm just so excited...

the ultimate answering machine message.

The more years I teach, the more I realize just how incredibly true this is ...

I'm pretty sure I've heard it before, but it's still fantastic. If you're a teacher, you HAVE GOT to hear this. And if you're not a teacher, definitely listen to it, but understand that you may not have the same appreciation for it as "we" do!

God is so good.

While there was nothing particularly amazing about my week, I was thrilled to see that this family AND this family experienced answered prayers.

You may have to read a few of their previous posts to really understand their stories.

Amazing!

"The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth." -Psalm 145:18

birthdays, babies, and boys.

I kinda feel like it's been a while since I had a real blog post. Not that I lead an unbelievably exciting life or anything, but I do have a pretty good life and I enjoy blogging about it, whether you like it or not.
You know how you can spend several weekends being bored-out-of-your-mind, while other weekends are so crammed full you can barely breathe? Well I had one of those non-breathable weekends this past weekend. Don't get me wrong--while I thoroughly enjoy spending some weekends doing nothing (aka sleeping til noon), I also like to have fun things planned with very fun people.

I co-hosted a baby shower for my friend Heather on Saturday. I thought it was perfect for her. I put some time into planning this shower, but I'll probably never feel as though I've done enough to show express how much I love this sweet friend. God has blessed me with wonderful friends WAY beyond I deserve, so I know I say this often, but seriously...everybody needs a friend like this one.

Isn't she the cutest preggo? I can't wait to meet Thomas Brodie in December!

...and how about this cake? I'm pretty excited about the new bakery/coffee shop in Starkville (Owned by a college girl who just so happens to be a KD at State. Woop!) Isn't she so talented? The cake was pretty yummy too, I must say.Kristen (now being a fellow Starkvillian) helped host the shower, and Heather and Mom were able to come. Good times!

Saturday night we celebrated Trey's upcoming 30th birthday at my parents' house. Trey is a fellow '99 grad, so he and I have that special bond--only he hits the big 3-0 a few months before me!

I'm so glad my sister married this guy. He's pretty much like a brother. And as you can tell, Henry is pretty fond of his Uncle Trey, too. Happy early birthday to my dear B-I-L!

And wait...

My weekend didn't end here. On Sunday, my wonderful Mom hosted a Sip-and-See for sweet Jones. Have I told you how cute this little guy is? I just think he's cuter everytime I see him. Here are some pics from the Sip-and-See:I suppose I should just leave you with some more pictures of my precious boys...

I hope your Monday was as great as mine!

(Who am I kidding? I'm thrilled Monday is behind me!)

my sweet (&quirky!) friend, Claire...

Ditto, MSKS.

It's my dear friend Claire's birthday and I just couldn't agree more with what MSKS wrote about our girl.

While I am fond of the picture MSKS chose to represent our loved one, I'm just not quite sure it's my favorite one. I've been able to narrow down the top 12 faves, but I was unable to choose just one to include in this post. Maybe you can help me decide which one is best.

Welcome to the last year in your 20s, dear one!

knock knock!

It's time for roll call again! Leave a comment if you're reading!! And if I don't know you or don't have your blog linked to mine, let me know and I'll add you to my blog list! Happy day! :)

so...what's it like in Starkville these days??

Yep. I am one HOT bulldog.

she's here, she's here!!!

MADELEINE EVA HORN

August 10, 2010

7 lbs. 8 oz.Isn't she a little honey pie?

I'm so excited to finally have a little girl to spoil! I just hate that this sweet angel lives in Alpine, TX. It was so hard for me to not be with my bff today, KNOWING that she was giving birth!

I love her already and I just can't wait to get my hands on this girl (and hug her mommy TIGHT!) soon!

Welcome to the world little Maddy!

Love, "Aunt LaLa"

30!

Happy 30th birthday, Adelia!Considering the fact that I'm turning 30 in just a few short months, I obviously have no right to make a joke about my lovely cousin hitting this milestone (although, I guess I should remind her that she's 'hitting' it before me!)

Everybody should have an Adelia in their life. I'm so glad that God made us cousins! She and I have experienced a lot together, and well, we just kinda think we understand each other more than most others in our family! :) I'm so grateful for her and the relationship that we have!

Happy birthday dear Adelia!

prayers lifted up!

Please lift this family up in your prayers....

I just can't imagine.

Is this for real?

My friend Laura (beautiful name, huh?) sent this video to me and I thought I needed to share it. Maybe you've seen it before, but if not, you should definitely take the time to see (or hear) this adorable child sing "Amazing Grace." After researching a little after hearing this, I saw that she sang this song in memory of her mom, who died of cancer. Kinda makes me want to cry.

Seriously. Watch this. You won't believe it.

so long, farewell!

Don't fret....I'm not going anywhere, but my summer is! It's barely August and still 1 billion degrees outside, but Mississippi says it's time to start school again! (Whatever happened to starting back in the FALL?!). I've expressed a few concerns I have about the upcoming year, but despite the many challenges I will most likely face, I really am looking forward to getting back into the routine, meeting some new little faces, and seeing my teacher friends on a daily basis again!

Kristen, Henry and I (and Max!) loaded up Friday and headed to see Heather and Jones! Trey was on staff for the Happening this weekend, so we decided to keep H and J company while he was away. It was perfect to spend my last weekend of the summer with 4 of my favorite people in life!

Here's Henry "holding" Max while on our way to Gulfport! Despite Max's facial expression, I think he really did enjoy sitting with H!

My sweet boys. I couldn't believe how much Jones has changed even since I last saw him!! Oh, and I'm not really sure what kind of pose Henry decided to do here, but I thought it was kinda cute...

...of course we took a ton of pics of H and J together, but you can imagine how difficult it is to get 2 little boys to cooperate for at least a couple! I liked this one though. It wasn't exactly the pose we were hoping for, but I thought it was cute and funny nonetheless!

Here's Kristen and her little man...

...and Heather and hers (don't I have pretty sisters?)...

...and...of course I had to have one with both of my boys!
I'll leave you with my favorite picture from the weekend.

Jones was in his crib and I walked by to see Henry "reading" to him! It was the sweetest thing! Henry is so adorable with his "Baby Jones."
Adios friends! I'm off to bed and NOT looking forward to that early am alarm clock! I hope you all have a wonderful week and if you think about it this week, squeeze in a little prayer for teachers EVERYWHERE! :)

our last hoorah!

Hi. It's me, blogging for the first time in, what? Like 2 weeks? Sad.

Summer is officially coming to an end. I must say, it's been fantastic and I hate to see it end! I know I say it at the end of every summer, but it really did just go by too fast. I may not have traveled to really far away places this summer, but I pretty much covered the entire state of Mississippi (from Hernando to Gulfport to Oxford to Jackson) and into Birmingham too. Visiting good friends is completely underrated to me.

I'm fortunate to work with some really fun people, and I've missed seeing some of them this summer, so it was fun to get together at UMI tonight for a little Habachi.

Seriously...YUM.

We have to be back at work on Monday, so I had mixed feelings when we went our separate ways tonight and said "well...see you on Monday!"

We have professional development Monday-Wednesday next week and my 25 (that's right...25) students will grace me with their presence bright and early next Thursday morning! I'm always excited about a new start with new students, but I'm finding myself a little anxious this year. Not only am I teaching more students than I've ever had, but this will also be the first year I haven't had an assistant! I know that God doesn't give me anything I can't handle, but I'm still finding myself a little nervous about what lies ahead of me this year. I've quoted Philippians 4:13 a lot these past few weeks, and I'm sure I'll continue to do so for the next few weeks! I want to ask you to pray specifically that God will allow me to meet the needs of each and every one of my students this year and that His love will shine through me. I have no doubt in my mind that, through the challenges I may face, God is going to teach me something this year (and I kinda hope my students learn a thing or two, too!)!

Tomorrow, Kristen, Henry and I are heading to spend my last weekend of the summer with Heather and Jones.

I can't think of 4 other people I'd rather spend these days with.

Thanks for hanging in here with me during my blogging "lull". I'm proud to say that these blogging breaks are few and far between!

Note: I realized not too long ago that the html code for my blog button on the right wasn't working. I'm almost positive it's working properly now, so go ahead and grab my code and add my button to your blog! :)

ugh......

My apologies.

Between working in my classroom, helping other teachers paint at the school, cleaning my house, dog/housesitting for my sister, tutoring, working on information for my upcoming students/parents, trying to help out with a sick nephew AND grandmother, ordering and addressing invitations for an upcoming baby shower, and trying to maintain somewhat of a social life;), I've put blogging on the backburner this week. And I've missed it. Just give me a few more days, and I'm sure I'll come up with something really fantastic to blog about.

I really, really will.

sweet summertime...

First of all, I want to say that after posting about Mexico Tipico yesterday, I found out that the driver of the car underwent a medical emergency while driving, which caused the accident. Had I known that, I would've never posted about "Poor Tipico." The focus should obviously be on the driver, who apparently is in the hospital being treated for some sort of medical problem. Prayers are with her and her family!

Now...

Have I told you how much I love having Kristen back in Starkville? I do.

She and Rob had a cook out the other night at their house with some fun friends. Among the families there, there were 5 cute little boys (and one on the way!) and ZERO girls!

Here are the "adult males" in attendance (minus Wesley Ferguson!):

Tom Simmonds, Kane Overstreet, and Rob...

And the females (minus HEGS who refused to be photographed!)

Katey, Kris, and me....

and...

Emily Ferguson

The boys:

Camp and Paxton Overstreet

Tate and Hayes Ferguson

Henry

(Thomas Brodie Simmonds who will be here in December!)

look at these cute ones...

(LOVE that one!!!)

Sweet, sweet summertime!