happy birthday, Scout!

Happy 2nd birthday, to Scout!  We love this kid!  Look out world, he's already doing amazing things!

daytripper

Books For Sale

Trying to make room on our bookshelves. Paperbacks are $3, hardbacks are $5...private message me if you're my friend on Facebook or comment here and I'll contact you. Thanks!
 Paperbacks: By Nicholas Sparks
 The Last Song
 Nights in Rodanthe
 Dear John

The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo by Stieg Larson
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
Feed the Belly the Pregnant Mom's Healthy Eating Guide by Frances Largeman-Roth, RD
The Street of a Thousand Blossoms by Gail Tsukiyama
The Tenth Justice by Brad Metzler
New Moon (Twilight Saga) by Stephenie Meyer
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards


Hardbacks:
By Stephenie Meyer
Eclipse
Breaking Dawn


A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks
The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren

$1 paperbacks A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan (YA)
That's it for now, if I find some more, I'll post them!

summer 2012

this has pretty much been it...Scout got his hair cut, we had VBS and he loved it, we go to church every Sunday, swim in his little pool at G and P's, and hang out in our pj's a lot!  lots of Super Why, Sesame Street, music at lunch, cheese, ball, bean box, and learning the alphabet.  i'm in the middle of a massive purge and cleaning my closet and bedroom, k-dogg works in the yard when it isn't scorching, we saw the amazing spiderman this week.  our little town and group of friends has been hit hard with tragedy this summer.  other than that, life is good!

happy birthday!

yippee-yi-yo, it's my birthday!  some little character on one of Scout's apps says that and Scout hits it over and over every time he plays it.  haven't done much today, i'm actually still in my pajamas and Scout's taking a nap.  yesterday was a bad weather day.  Scout went to G and P's while k-dogg and i went to the eye doctor, lunch, and the movies.  k-dogg wears contacts, so they make him come in for a check up once a year before they'll refill his prescription.  i just needed my glasses adjusted because some little boy likes to grab them and throw them as fas as he can when he's tired or mad at me.  our favorite vietnamese food place is only two blocks from the eye doctor and we aren't in that part of town very often, so we went there for lunch!  yum!  then we finally got to see the avengers!  we missed captain america and thor in the theater and caught up on dvd in the past month.  the avengers was awesome!  never have been a big fan of iron man, but i've liked the hulk since i was a little kid and captain america may be my new favorite.  didn't know anything about him when i dressed Scout for halloween, but he's cool.  now i'm ready for the amazing spiderman and the dark knight rises.  my guys got me a HUGE harry potter book for my birthday...if Scout doesn't end up being a geek...i'll be very surprised! 

fiesta

not really, we're not celebrating cinco de mayo too much.  well, scout and i aren't.  k-dogg is going out with friends to watch the mayweather fight, but i don't think he really cares what they're doing, he's just excited to get out.  scout started running a fever wednesday afternoon.  we weren't sure what was wrong, since he always holds his ear when he's tired and he seemed to be getting a new tooth.  thursday morning, gram texted me at work and told me to call his doctor.  so, i worked two hours thursday morning and then left to take scout to the doctor.  they tested him for flu, it was negative.  the doctor said his ears were clear and that he probably had an upper respiratory infection.  scout looked miserable all day thursday.  we went back to gram's and he wanted to do nothing but be held.  i stayed home with him yesterday so he could sleep in.  he looked much better, but still pretty puny and pale.  and, ohmygoodness, he has been a momma's boy the past few days!  poor k-dogg got up with him this morning, but as soon as he saw me, he actually jumped off the couch and ran to me!  he's taking his amoxicillin like a big boy, and he's not running fever anymore, but he gets run down and grumpy pretty easily and he's not eating much.  he also cut a new tooth today.  i got a swing for him this afternoon.  we set it up at my mom and dad's and let him try it out.  he loves swinging, normally, but he wasn't too thrilled and wanted out.  i got him out, and blood just poured out of his mouth...new tooth!  that would explain some of the grumpiness and not eating!  he's been asleep for the past 2 hours, so i'm hoping he'll be able to sleep tonight!  if not...it may be a long night.  outside of scout news, nothing much is happening.  i got a haircut and changed my hair color.  we now have less than a month of school!  not much is happening this coming week, then everything goes bonkers!  can't wait!

April

this is the time of year school starts getting crazy.  we found out our room assignments, team assignments, and what we'll be teaching next year on monday.  i have to move rooms again, i have a new team again, and i'm teaching only writing next year.  so, it will be my 4th year there, my 3rd classroom, my 5th different team, and for the second time i will get to pack up all my reading and history materials.  whatever, at least i'm not pregnant this time while i have to move all my stuff!  i'm actually excited about only teaching writing.  this year has been really hard trying to fit everything in.  we have more staar tests this week...reading and math.  relay for life was last night.  i'm glad i went, even though it was pretty cold, because a lot of people didn't show up!  i stopped by ghs cheer tryouts last night before relay...so glad Scout is a boy!!!!  my mom's birthday was this week.  she kept Scout home from mdo and took him on a picnic at the park.  thursday, they went to the zoo.  i think my kid loves to zoo!  he's really into birds right now.  when they were at the park this week, he saw a goose and started honking at it!  we're not sure who we can give credit to for that, but i'm betting on curious george or my mom...she may not remember teaching him that!  Scout cut ANOTHER tooth this week, so his sleeping has been a little off and he can be a little grumpy at times.  he also hates being interrupted for a diaper change and tries to kick k-dogg and i while we are changing him...fun times!  we're about to go wrap up my mom's birthday week this afternoon with a late lunch at tgifridays and a trip to fresh!  yeah, our family celebrates birthdays all week!  my birthday this year is on a saturday, we're out of school the day before it, and it's the saturday after mother's day!  plus, we have field day that week.  should be a pretty good week!  in case you missed 'em on fb, here's some Scout pictures to catch you up...

merry go round

scout and the windy lunch

see ya, gram, i'm off to find the birds!

rockin' the giraffe shades at the zoo

dancing and praising at relay for life...love that kid in the top left!

the luminaria is an awesome thing to see

  

little bunny foo foo

i started singing that song to Scout the other day to distract him while i was changing his diaper.  so, he's been running around since then saying, "bop, bop, bop!"  i only sing the first verse, because i've always thought that song was a wee bit twisted!  yesterday, he was eating lunch at gram's and said, "bopmmmm."  we got him to switch it around to mmmbop.  i found the hanson song on my phone and played it for him...he started dancing in his high chair.  k-dogg is not really excited about Scout being a hanson fan!  Scout had his first egg hunt yesterday.  he had a lot of fun and wore out himself and my parents' dog...but he is not an accomplished egg hunter.  he likes to hide the eggs, take them apart, and throw them!  he sees no reason to pick them up and put them in a basket once he's spotted them.  guess that's a luxury of being an only!  he was not thrilled with the crowd and the longer service at church this morning, so i didn't get any good pictures of our family all dressed in our coordinating, but not matching outfits.  i'm proud to say that my son was the only kid in his nursery class NOT wearing pastels or bright pink!  we are not really a pastel family...even for Resurrection Sunday!  these pictures are from his egg hunt yesterday.

he found an egg in his shirt!

he studies EVERYTHING!

scout and scarlett, way too close for my comfort!

my students said he looks like he bit a squirrel and forgot to let go!

After church today, isn't his outfit cute?  told y'all he was not happy!

Untitled

It's not even April an I already have a tanline on my feet from wearing my Toms! Tomorrow is Palm Sunday and it's supposed to get up to 87! Not looking forward to the heat this summer! We had STAAR writing this week. Not worried about it, but sitting there two days in a row making sure my kids are absolutely silent for four hours straight is nerve-wracking! This coming week may be interesting. Our whole grade is supposed to be reading the same book at the same time. As best as I remember, there was not much discussion or input on what books we were getting. I was not too happy when a whole set of the ghost of fossil glen was dumped in my room. I don't believe in ghosts, don't read or watch scary stuff, and definitely don't want to teach it in my class. Put them in the cabinet and forgot about them for a few weeks. This week we were told it's on the plans for next week. I got the book out and read it...NOT gonna happen in my classroom! My son is only 16 months old right now, but if he ever came home talking about a book like this before high school, I'd be upset. My mom said if my class had been given this book to read when I was a kid, she'd have been at the school...which was very rare! I will not be responsible for letting a bunch of 9-10 year olds read a book about, not only a ghost, but a little girl close to their age being murdered by her mom's boyfriend and then coming back as a ghost and killing the boyfriend! I don't think so! So, my class is going to be reading stories from the literature book. We have only used it twice this whole year, anyway. I'm sure someone will have something to say, probably a few someones and a lot of something, but whatever. I'm used to taking a stand when not many other people will. I've always seen pretty much everything as black and white. This book is just wrong for the classroom. Ok, now...I should be shopping, but we are trying to spend the day together, all three of us. But, Scout decided to show he in control and went down for a nap at 10:30! So, now I wait! Oh well, shopping and eating with him is a lot of fun, especially when he's had a good nap!

hello, goodbye

Greetings, from Jefferson, Texas!  We took Scout to Jefferson yesterday.  Ate some good cornbread sandwiches, did a little shopping, got Scout a coonskin hat!  Mostly, just got out of the house and enjoyed the day.  It's crazy how many times I hear how cute he is and how happy and well-behaved he is anytime we take him out.  The awesome shirt he has on was a gift from my friend, Jimmy.  I think it's the third Beatles shirt Scout has had!  Gotta make sure he shows off his good taste in every size!  Can't wait til he gets just a little bigger and can wear the Bob Marley shirt that's waiting in his closet.  That will probably get some comments, but Scout loves reggae music and used to dance in his high chair whenever I played "I Shot the Sheriff!"  He pretty much loves any kind of music.  He dances at church, he likes his Sesame Street cd, he usually likes whatever is on in the car or any store, just gotta keep him away from Jucy's...don't want him exposed to too much country, it may ruin his good taste!

peace

well, it would be peaceful if i could stop sneezing and k-dogg would quit coughing.  he's had a cough about 3 weeks now.  i felt sorry for him until he refused to go to the doctor and keeps me awake night after night coughing.  all pity is gone and had been replaced with slight annoyance.  anyway, we got off work early today for spring break.  i went to get scout from gram's house, he was confused as to why i was there so early!  brought him home and he went straight to bed.  he's going back tonight for a sleepover.  we have been hearing all week that it was supposed to start raining yesterday and not stop til sunday or monday.  it started last night, then it stopped.  it hasn't rained here all day!  but, it's cold again and wet...not good vacation weather.  pretty common for spring break around here, though.  i'm using scout's naptime to edit pictures before i order them and update my phone...exciting stuff!  we don't have much planned for this break.  and that's exactly how i plan to keep it!

daffodil's lament

so, not really the daffodil's lament...they don't care if your camera batteries die or not!  we went out to Mrs. Lee's Daffodil Garden this morning.  i was hoping to get some really great pictures of Scout and the flowers.  first of all, we couldn't find anywhere to stop along the way until we got to the cabin.  then, we got out at the cabin, started taking a few shots...and my battery light started flashing...argh!  oh well, we went for quality over quantity this time.  i did get some good pics of my guys together, an excellent one of Scout, and some funny faces he made because he fell asleep on the drive through the garden!  

cutest thing ever!

love this one

really, momma, you woke me up for this??

we may try again this coming weekend...or we may not.  how many pictures of yellow flowers do you really need when you already got that first one???

my guy

we've been busy!  Scout is walking/running everywhere, cutting three teeth at once, not eating, and growing and learning so fast!  i've been fighting a sinus infection for about 2 or 3 weeks now.  we had a good valentine's day.  i passed my esl test, k-dogg went to austin for a few days for work.  busy, busy!

the hairbrush song

i have to go to ut tyler this afternoon to take my esl test.  i haven't taken a test for anything in 10 years, since i took my teacher certification test.  same place.  i was a little worried because i took the class about the test 3 months ago, but i took a practice test last night and only missed 2 questions.  and, it's not a test for anything i HAVE to have for work, just extra that will make my resume look better, it will make it easier to get a job somewhere else, and scheduling my students next year will be easier for admin.  we finally got paid this week.  i really wish they didn't even pay us early.  that would be easier than going almost 6 weeks in between checks!  Scout got his first haircut this week!  not really a real haircut...Gram trimmed his curls off and straightened everything up so he looks like a little boy now instead of a girl or a little urchin!  hair is just not going to be a big deal for us.  he wants to grow it out, ok...shave his head, alright.  you can always start over or wear hats!  at one point, i had a tail, one side of my hair was shorter than the other, and i had lines shaved in my hair.  i used to color it with markers.  i had a blue streak in it.  in college, it was dark brown, almost white, and then the same color as a dr. pepper can.  and i probably didn't use a brush or comb for well over a year.  K-dogg's hair has been shaved very short and he's had huge curls almost down to his shoulders.  not to mention Gram's many different colors and styles!  there's not much Scout will be able to do to his hair that would surprise us.  anyway, i'm off to find something to eat.  can't go in to that test on an empty and growling stomach!   

Ten

Ten things I like right now... The peanut butter chocolate chip oatmeal cookies my mom has been baking Watching Scout discover new foods It's Saturday night All our laundry is done Scout walked the farthest he's ever walked by himself today OKC Thunder keep winning It's not too much longer before baseball starts Church is tomorrow, I like watching Scout greet people and listen to the music Payday is this week...finally! We cleaned out Scout's toys today and it looks much better!

Black hole sun

Think I just lost a whole post...here's the short version...works is not a fun place to be this week due to cancer. It's been 9 years since my cousin, Bryan, was killed. I miss him, I wish he was still here to see his niece and nephew grow up. I hope we don't get any bad news tomorrow. When my phone isn't about to shut off...I'll retype my original post!

Purple Rain

the golden globes awards are on tonight. i have seen 4 movies in the theater since Scout was born, harry potter and the deathly hollows parts 1 and 2, the help, and dolphin tale. dolphin tale was during work, too. the students that met their ar goals got to go to the movies and choose between dolphin tale and the smurfs. so, i haven't seen most of the movies that will be awarded tonight, but i'm an avid reader of entertainment weekly, so i do have some idea of what's going on! in honor of the big movies night, i'm listing my top ten favorite movie SOUNDTRACKS of all time. agree, disagree, marvel at my awesomeness, laugh in my face...i don't care, but feel free to add your thoughts and opinions!

The Big Chill
Jungle Book
My Girl
Reality Bites
Twilight
Dirty Dancing
Romeo & Juliet
Now and Then
Dazed and Confused
Blues Brothers 2000

This list is not really in order, that would be too hard!

Texas Flood

Obviously, unlike my mom, the more stressed I am, the less I write and the less I eat. In the past two weeks one of my former students and another boy lost their moms to cancer and pneumonia. Another former student was shot in the face and the kid they have in custody is also a former student. Scout had a stomach virus and before it had even gone away he got double pink eye. Thankfully, it didn't seem to be the contagious kind. We don't know where he for it, but none of us got it from him! He didnt really eat for almost a week, but hes making up for it now! Coach Little passed away on Tuesday morning. There was a little confusion and drama with me taking off work for the funeral today. My annual evaluation at work was on Wednesday morning...I was not in much of a mood for that, but it turned out ok. One of my current students is having some major problems with some new medicine and the mom doesn't seem concerned at all. This morning was the funeral. I don't normally do funerals, but my dad was speaking at it, an it was Coach Little. I did pretty good at keeping it together until his son, Brad, got up to speak. He did a really good job. Tomorrow I plan to run away to target and eat some lunch, play with Scout, and enjoy the rest of our long weekend.

My mind's eye

"borrowing" from my mom's blog...top ten things on my mid right now...some serious, others not at all! 1. Coach Little- we'd have to go WAY back to when I was in 5th grade...for some reason, my dad and I helped them move into their house when they moved to Gladewater. We all became friends. Brad and I had several crazy youth trips together. The night we had a wreck on the way home from a Rangers game and I had to get rib x-rays...Brad stayed with me most of the time and got me a candy bar after the doctors said my stomach was empty. At out homes, my mom and Coach Little both woke up, knowing something was wrong, and were awake and waiting when we all started calling our houses! Coach Little was my 9th grade science teacher, I didn't learn a thing except that "a good research paper should be like a girl's skirt...long enough to cover the subject, but short enough to be interesting!" Alyssa and Bean spent HOURS swimming, laughing, and baking cookies together. Between Alyssa's wreck and their mom's death, they've been through way more than any family should have to deal with. And now this. But, the Littles are one of the strongest families I know. 2. Scout has not been himself the past few days...we do not like teething around here! 3. When he feels good, Scout is an awesome little kid and a lot of fun to be around! He actually clapped when he saw me this afternoon. 4. I never thought I would be so excited to get new rugs for my kitchen...until they arrived today. 5. I miss watching tv past 8pm and actually being able to hear it! 6. Tomorrow is Wednesday! 7. My students have the weirdest and funniest conversations, unintentionally, when hey don't know I'm listening. 8. I really want to go to a concert sometime this year! 9. Getting paid early in November and December is nice at the time...not so nice during January! Really working on not shopping online or getting dinner out for a few weeks! 10. I could really use a day at home all alone to get stuff done here...and watch tv with the sound up and no interruptions! Now, a shower one more trip through pinterest and Facebook...an I should be ready to sleep. And, yes, my alarm is set!

happy new year

Scout would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year!