Rainy Day

Today will be a very rainy day. I know this because my faithful weatherman told me. I know because I traipsed into work, umbrella in hand, sloshing through puddles across the parking lot. I know because my body is telling me to go back to bed.

Now, the goofy part is that I am in a classroom with no windows. There are days when I don't see the sky from 7:45-3:00. Yesterday was one of those days. I brought my class downstairs, and we were about to head out to recess when I saw the rain drops. It was surprising.

So I'm in my little cave, knowing it is raining, and basing the way I feel on what the weather is like far from where I am, shimmering on the stonework of the building. I have a choice to make now. I can allow myself to feel the cold straight down to my bones, or I can create a sunny day in my classroom.

I may have to work extra hard at it, but I'm going to try to make the sun shine today. <3

Amazing

When I hear Brandon Heath's song "Give Me Your Eyes," I automatically think of my sister. My beautiful sister amazes me. She should have been born first because she is everything that a big sister should be. I look up to her and I am in awe of the incredible woman she has become.

She doesn't have to ask God for his eyes, arms, heart, or love for humanity because she's already there. She thinks of others before thinking of herself. She is Christ to those less fortunate. She is His hands and feet. When I grow up, I hope to be just like her.

"Step out on the busy street.
See a girl and our eyes meet.
Does her best to smile at me.
To hide what's underneath.
There's a man just to her right
Black suit and a bright red tie.
Too ashamed to tell his wife he's out of work, he's buyin time.
All those people goin somewhere, why have I never cared.

Give me your eyes for just one second,
Give me your eyes so I can see,
Everything that I keep missing,
Give me your love for humanity.
Give me Your arms for the broken-hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten."

Chicken and Stars

I'm home today with my sweet little girl. She's got the sniffles and she needed some extra love and attention today.

So far we've watched Disney's Happy Hauntings (on VHS no less) and watched a bit of Hocus Pocus. It's amazing how different things look when you are watching them with your child. That movie seemed harmless when I first saw it, but now as a mom I feel squeamish hearing the condescending undertones every time the word "virgin" is said. Bah.

We just ate our lunch. I had leftovers from my dinner last night. She slurped down a bowl of chicken and stars soup. Now I'm about to give her another dose of cold medicine and see if I can get her snuggled up for a nap.

Planning to Recharge

It's inevitable. I can't get through December without feeling weighed down, tired, overtaxed, etc. What is supposed to be a count down to the celebration of our Savior's birth leaves me feeling less than holy.

Why am I talking about December now? Good question.

Last December, a new tradition was started. My mother, my sister, and I took the day off work for a mental health day. We spent the day outlet shopping, indulging in meals at restaurants we don't have near our town, and giggling ourselves silly. It was the birth of Girls' Day Out.

This year I will need it even more than last year. We recently found out that my husband will be away on business during the week before Christmas. It would be hard enough were I your average working mom, but I am a teacher. The week before Christmas is fraught with rehearsals for the Christmas concert, the wrapping up of grades, and excited students. It's rough. So I am eagerly anticipating the refueling that will take place at the beginning of the month.

As of today, we've begun our plans. We've chosen our date. There's even talk of scheduling hour-long massages on Girls' Day Out Eve. It will be blissful!

My life is a merry melody

I've had a wonderful day. My children spent the night at my parents' house last night, so I was able to sleep in until 9:30. Oh joy of joys!

My husband was still asleep, and my Lily cat looked at me like I was crazy for getting out of my snuggly bed.

I padded downstairs and enjoyed the silence. I perused through my daily catalog of online reads (friends' blogs, local news, facebook, my library checked-out list to see what is due to be returned soon). I got a little work done for my upcoming social studies unit plan. I made myself 2 one-eyed-jacks and ate them on one of my cute-as-pie chicken plates.:

See? Cute as pie.

I was just about to head upstairs to wake my hubby when my sister called. She was heading up to the Verizon store. She and I have the same phone and we are both experiencing the same issue (they turn off for no reason). So we decided to meet at the store and see what they would do.

I got dressed, woke my husband, and headed out to meet my sister. Verizon seemed unsurprised about the issue and will be sending out new phones to both of us on Monday. I'm happy for the new phone, but I am a bit wary it will happen again.

My sister had some other errands to run, so tagged along. It was so pretty that we walked everywhere, leaving our cars parked at the Verizon store.

The cutest part of the day was when I called my daughter to inquire which Disney princess is her favorite. We are going to Disney World next month and we thought it would be cute to get her a princess dress at the Halloween store. Sophie said, "Aunt Tracy is my favorite princess." It made both of us smile. She's such a sweetie.

My sister had an appointment at the hair salon to get her hair cut for Pantene's Beautiful Lengths (like Locks of Love, but they use more of the hair that is donated to them and make more free wigs). Her hair is so cute! I took pictures of the whole process.

So now I'm home with my little ones and my hubby. The pizza dough is rising for our weekend pizza night. The air has cooled a bit and I'm actually feeling a little chilly with the windows open. All in all, it's a beautiful night to match a beautiful day.

Sweetening the Night

Tonight was a kind of boring. We had leftover pizza for dinner. We ate early and the night stretched ahead of us. It's Wednesday, a boring day by nature. So I decided to do something to spice it up.

I made sugary butter cookies and they turned out really yummy.


I do believe they are as good, if not better, than the cookies our neighborhood market sells for $12.00 + a box. Yeah, I think that price is ridiculous, too.

Sophie was enthralled. She said, "Daddy! Mommy's making teeny tiny cookies! Oh! and they have blue sugar on them, too!"

I've decided to call them Sand Dollar cookies because of their size. I <3 them and I think they'll be something that spice up many a boring night to come.

Poisoning my family?

In a burst of efficiency, I decided to marinate chicken for tonight's dinner. I put chicken breasts in a casserole dish, covered them with diced tomatoes, and sprinkled it all with Italian seasoning.

This afternoon, my husband sent me an email at work asking if I wanted him to grill the chicken for dinner. I was happy to hand over dinner duty for tonight. It's progress report week, and any help is welcome.

As we sat down to dinner, I dished out tomatoes to everyone. My daughter and I were talking about how yummy they were. That's when it hit me--we hadn't cooked the tomatoes! My husband had microwaved them for less than a minute, but I don't think that would kill the bacteria.

We didn't nibble much of it, so hopefully no one gets sick!

October First

Taking a page from the fabulous Nie (many many prayers), my family is celebrating the beginning of the fun month of October today. In my house, we celebrate Halloween. I know that some Christian families do not. We do. We dress up, trick or treat to a few friends' homes, and then head to our church for their Trunk or Treat event. It's a blast.

I love Halloween. I love all of the opportunities for baking fun treats. It makes me happy to be able to feed my family yummy treats.

So tonight we are watching The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. We're having a special dinner of ghost shaped pancakes with chocolate chip eyes. I'll be thinking of Nie while I enjoy my family.

As horrible as her tragedy is, it's brought her into my life. And because of her example, I'm spending more time enjoying my family. God has blessed us through her.

One of those days

It's one of those days. Everything that could have gone wrong this morning, has.
I was thisclose to being late for work. My students were in charge of chapel today and they all just barely arrived in time for a quick practice. During the actual chapel, one of the microphones echoed, so the most important lines of our skit weren't really heard. And my little guy who was the dad in the play got stage fright and began to cry. It was so sad.

But then a parent brought in Rice Krispy treats and everything felt better.

:)