My Classroom Before

So I thought I would take some picts of my classroom before it was all finished so you could truly appreciate all my hard work. hehehe!! And honestly these picts are halfway through. I wish I would have thought about it in the beginning. I had to go through everything so I could see what I had, then realized that it was all unorganized and some needed to be thrown away. I was so lost and realized that I was picking stuff up, just to move it to another spot it didn't need to be. I finally called the other first grade teacher to see if she would come and help me. Thankfully she was more then willing. Finally I had someone who could tell me what stuff was, what it went with, and where would be a good spot for it.

This pic is the view from my door.

This is the view from my desk.

And this is from the front of the room. Door is on the left. See my nice Smartboard?! I'm super excited about it! I can't wait to use it. I'm sure I will be using it all the time, every day!!

This is my desk. A little messy right now but should be cleaned off soon. They are waxing the hallways Monday so we have to be out until August 10th. I'm a little freaked out. Teachers go back August 22 and that afternoon is Open House. That only gives me a week and a half. Yikes!!! I still have to do my bulletin boards, label things, students desk tags, start lesson plans, oh my!! Now I'm really freaked! I hope I can get it all done. We are going to St Louis on Friday so I am hoping I can find some cool things while shopping! And hopefully some new school clothes!

We've been lazy all day. I've been blog hopping and Cory's been channel surfing. I found a cool teacher blog that has some super cute labels and ideas. I am so excited to get some supplies and get started. I love polka dots and zebra and she incorporated both!! Super cute! I can't wait for you to see them. I can't wait to see them! lol

Well hopefully I will be able to post picts of my finished classroom soon. Have a great weekend!!

Wordless Wednesday

Granny Jan and Grandpa Morgan



Working Out, My Classroom and Fertility

My summer is almost over. :( Makes me sad! Only 4 weeks left until school starts. I shouldn't be complaining though because we are going back later then a lot of other schools. So I will enjoy my last few weeks and hopefully not get to overly stressed. I worked in my classroom again today. The past couple of days that I have been working seem to be just moving stuff around aimlessly, making an even bigger mess for myself. But I couldn't figure out where some of it needed to go and what some it even was. So I finally broke down and called the other First grade teacher to see if she cared to come in and help me make sense of this horrific mess. Thankfully she was more then willing to come and help. We got a big chunk of it organized and she was very helpful in explaining what went with what, what it was for, and when we would use it. I feel ten times better. I still have a lot more to do but at least I don't feel as stressed out about it.

Cory and I started P90X last week, took a break because we went on vaca and now are back at it again. It's kicking my but. The last time I did P90X I was ok. BUT I had already been working out and was in a little bit of shape. I really haven't put much effort into losing weight because my whole theory was that I was going to get pregnant anyway, so why lose the weight if I was just going to get fat again. I know it doesn't really makes any sense but it was my way of getting out of working out. But I have decided that I may never get pregnant so I don't want to spend my whole life going by this theory and then wake up one day and I'm fifty years old and never got pregnant, and still fat! Plus, I am hoping losing weight will help me get pregnant. I mean I don't need to lose like 50 pounds but if I don't watch it I could get there. Plus, I have getting in a bathing suit and none of my clothes fit!!! So aggravating! I could have so much more to wear if I would just lose weight. So that is my goal. A couple of summers ago Cory and I got on a health kick, was eating right and working out like crazy. I lost 17 pounds and Cory lost 15. I was actually starting to look skinny! Then life got busy and we forgot. I'm telling you, eating healthy is expensive. I don't care what anybody says, it is! Fruits, vegetables, healthy snacks, healthy food just costs more! Anyway, I'm hoping to stick with it and lose the weight. We will see what happens.

I haven't updated on fertility lately, so I guess I will do that. I started my 100 mg of clomid this month. I dread next month! I could definitely tell that my ovaries were swollen, they hurt so bad. From taking clomid before, months in a row, I know that the longer I take them the more painful it gets. So doubling up and taking it 2 months in a row is not going to be fun. I'm pretty sure I'm not pregnant this month but I should find out by the weekend for sure. August would be the perfect month for me because I will be due in May and probably wouldn't have to take any time off from work, plus I would have the whole summer with my new baby. That would be great because since I am new this year I don't have any days built up. I will get some but not enough to take maternity leave. So I'm really keeping my fingers crossed for August. Just waiting patiently.

Well I've rambled on enough to bore you to death, so I will go for now. Hope your having a great summer!

Fun In Texarkana

Part 3 of our visit with Meme, Papa, and Mom

Three Generations: Meme, Mom and Me

Cory and I took Amtrak to see mom. It leaves out of Walnut Ridge, AR and drops us off in Texarkana, TX. This was our second time to go Amtrak and Cory just loves it. He doesn't have to drive and it actually costs about the same. Anyway, on our trip back the train ended up being and hour and a half late. That is one thing that I don't really like about it. So since we had some time to waist we went down town to see the TX/AR sign.

I am on the Texas side and Cory is on the Arkansas side for a reason.

I was born and raised in Austin, TX. Cory was born in Paragould, AR and raised in Corning, AR. This is definitely a house divided!

Mom and me on the steps. Almost time to go home :(

Kayaking with Mom......Never Again!

Part 2 of our visit with Mom, Meme, and Papa

Cory and I wanted to get out of the house one day so we talked my mom into going kayaking. First mistake, asking my mom to go. Bless her heart. My mom actually worked with someone who knew the river and her husband rented out kayaks and canoes. So Cory talked to her and asked how the river was. Not a problem, we take our 3 year old grandson all the time, she said. Ok, mom can do it if a 3 year old can do it. So we head out with our lunch and camera ready for an adventure. First of all the woman's husband was sick and was closed for the day. We should have just turned around and gone home. Second mistake. Instead we headed on down the road to find another place that was open. Ambush Adventures is what we came to next.

It looked promising. So we rented out kayaks and jumped on the van to head down to the drop off. When we get there the driver tells us a little about the river and what turns to make. I never heard rocks, rapids, or small water falls. Cory did. He told me later that once he heard those words he knew we shouldn't be doing this with my mom. Third Mistake. So we get in our kayaks about to head down the river, Cory and I both look up and see rocks.

(see the rocks?)

Cory asks me if I think we can do this. Mind you, I'm still oblivious to water falls and rapids. Ya, we can do this. Were in the boats, let's do it. Fourth Mistake. We should have turned around and gotten out of the river. Here's another kicker, my mom is deathly afraid of the water because she doesn't know how to swim. Cory and I both thought that the river was going to be smooth and no big deal. If we had known beforehand what we knew after, we would have not taken my mom. We would have gone, but not taken her. AND it was our first time to Kayak! Fifth mistake! If I had thought about it, I would have tried to tell my mom some tips before we left. I'm not sure why I didn't.

Mom, scared to death, before the rocks.

We made it through the first set of rocks/rapids, with mom freaking out. The second set of rocks, not so much. When you get to rocks/rapids you are suppose to start paddling hard to help you go where you want/need to go. Instead of paddling she would just put her arms up, yelling and freaking out. We were trying to tell her to paddle, but she just wouldn't listen, therefore she tipped over. I turn around to see my mom literally freaking out in the middle of the river. I can't swim, I'm gonna drown! As we yell, STAND UP!! I finally got her to half way listen to me and was able to get her over to me with her kayak. But I couldn't get her into her kayak wo tipping myself over. So I jumped out and held her boat so she could get back in. Whew! I'm thinking at this point that if this is how bad it is were ok. I was wrong! It gets worse! A couple more rocks/rapids down she tips again. I'm not sure how but she got back in her kayak.

If you think it's been bad so far, just wait! It gets better. We come to a fork in the river. We are suppose to go right but Cory thinks the left looks better. So we go left. But half way down, it doesn't look so good. Some how we paddle back and go to the right. I don't know if this was a mistake or not. We soon come upon huge rocks, rapids, AND small waterfalls. Yes, waterfalls! There's two rows. Cory and I get through the first row, mom does not. I some how purposefully get stuck on some rocks so I can hopefully help mom. Her kayak and paddle are floating down the river and she is standing in the middle on a rock, freaking out. Yelling and flapping her arms. There are moments in peoples lives when a situation comes and you have to either suck it up and do it, or die. My mom said forget it. I'm done. While trying to stay stuck between the rock, the rapids tip me over. I go under water, down the waterfall, while trying to hold the plastic bag that has our lunch AND camera up out of the water. Not easy! (thank goodness I had double bagged the camera so it did not get wet) So now my kayak and paddle and my moms are floating down the river. What am I going to do? I swim as hard as I can and get all four things and take them to land. Mom is still sitting in the middle of the river on a rock. So Cory and I walk back up to where she is. Theres no way we can get to her wo shoes on (Cory had flip flops on and one of mine had floated down the river) because the rocks are too sharp and slippery, plus the current is rushing too hard. So we waited for someone to come down to hopefully help us. Thankfully two teenagers came down in a canoe. We asked them if they could get mom and bring her to land. They swam over and rolled her into the canoe. Safe and sound on land. Only one problem, we still weren't back to Ambush. Thankfully the rest of the trip was exactly how we imagined the whole trip to be, smooth paddling wo

We finally made it back to Ambush. I think all three of us were so happy the trip was over. At the last ordeal I seriously thought one of or both of us were going to drown. Thankfully God was watching over us and helped us through. If you take away the rocks, waterfalls, and rapids it was fun. But I don't think we will ever be able to talk mom into doing something like that again.

Visiting Meme and Mom

When I was little I spent every summer with my Meme. I have fond memories of her and Papa. I love my Meme so much and I hate that we live so far away from her. But my mom lives in the same town right now so we went for a visit to see them. This is the house I spent many summers in.

While we were there we took some walks,

 talked about some old memories and went flea marketing and garage selling. It really was a lot of fun. Cory and I love to go to flea markets and so do Meme and Papa. I remember going on the weekends for hours and hours to look for garage sales. Papa usually bought me whatever I wanted, in reason.

One day we checked out the little town of Mena, AR. It's a cute little town with shops, eateries, and a drive to the top of Queen Wilhemina Mountain. The views were gorgeous and we ended up eating at a little restaurant when we got to the top.

To be Continued..............



One Year

I meant to write this post on Thursday but I got busy and forgot. So I guess better late then never. Thursday was a very special day because it was the one year anniversary for my mom's kidney transplant. My mom was diagnosed with PKD (polycystic kidney disease) about 7 or 8 years ago. PKD is when multiple cysts form on the kidneys causing them to enlarge. Four years ago she was put on dialysis because her kidneys were not working as well as they needed to. She was then put on the donor list as we all hoped and prayed one would come through soon. Eventually the left kidney had grown so large that it was pushing her organs out of the way, making it hard for her to breath when she laid down, and only allowing her to eat maybe a fist full of food, if that. It was time to take it out. The surgery went well and the dr told us the kidney was the size of a larger watermelon. Keep in mind the normal size of a kidney is 4-5 inches. No wonder she couldn't eat or breath. About a year and half ago she had a heart attack. We soon found out that the reason for the heart attack was from calcification built up from the dialysis she was doing. The dr told us that she needed a transplant very soon because the calcification would build up again if she was still on dialysis. My thoughts were that she would be moved up on the donor list since the dialysis was causing the problem. Nope, not at all.

We knew she was high on the list because the nurse had called and asked her some questions a couple of times, but there are so many factors that go into this process. And if someone comes along that they think needs the kidney worse then her, she gets knocked out of the way. What happened next was definitely a "Wow God" moment. My cousins wife, Amanda, decided she was going to get checked out to see if she was a match. I tried not to get my hopes up because there were people in the past who had offered and couldn't because of various reasons. To our amazement she was a match! Last July they both flew to Austin, TX to get the transplant done. It was a great success and both my mom and cousin did very well. There was a lot of recovery for both women, but they are both doing very well today. In fact my mom went to the dr Thursday and the new kidney is doing great. The other kidney on the other hand, is not. It is growing even larger and beginning to push her liver over and she is beginning to have pain because of it. The dr told her it needed to come out but it was up to her.

Back to my cousin-in-law, Amanda. She is doing great today and so is my mom because of her. We will be forever in debt to her and there is no way we could thank her enough. It takes a very strong and caring person to do what she did. A lot of people say they would do it, but when it comes down to it, not many really would. Because of her, I have my mom and in good health. Thank you Amanda!!

Since I am on the subject, I would like to talk about donors. I personally would like for my organs to be donated when I die. There are so many people that could be saved and I won't need them when I'm gone. BUT many people don't think about donating, never get around to doing it, or don't want to. Please tell your family if you are willing to have your organs donated. When you are gone they may think you didn't want it done, or it was never discussed. Make sure they know your feelings on the subject. Next you need to register to donate. This way IF your family doesn't want it done, but you do, it will be done. If you are interested in learning more about donating or want to register, there are many websites to check out, but here is one: organdonor.gov

Here are some facts I will leave with you to think about:
110,586 people are waiting for an organ.
18 people die each day waiting on an organ.
1 organ donor can save up to 8 people!

4th of July Fun

We spent 4th of July in Corning, like we always do. They have their annual parade and picnic (I'm not sure why they call it a picnic because nobody picnics, more like a carnival type thing) and we usually get together as a family to eat lunch. 4th of July is always packed until the fireworks at 10:00 pm. We are always wore out when the day is over. We start the morning with breakfast at his great aunt's house then sit in her front lawn and watch the parade. Cory usually dresses up as a president and walks in it with some other guys but there wasn't enough men so they didn't do it this year. Cory was very upset. I don't know why but he loves doing it!! It rained this year during the parade but they just kept going. Somebody said it hadn't rained during the parade since the late 70's.

Babies, babies, and more babies. Yes, we have eight little ones in our family right now. Two of those are an in-laws. Holidays are fun these days.

Then we head over to his aunt's house to eat lunch with the family. Usually the food is really good and today was no different! Ribs, hamburgers, potato salad, baked beans, rolls, corn on the cob, asparagus, cheesecake, peach tart, grape salad, and on and on. Yummo!!!! We stuffed ourselves till we were sick. Every year, I tell ya, we do it every year.

After lunch Cory and I usually head out to the picnic to buy our truck tickets and see people. Cory was born and raised in Corning so he always sees people he hasn't seen for years, school friends, and family. After walking around the picnic we headed back to his aunts and watched movies. It was so nice to just sit and relax and hang out with the family. Now to wait for the fireworks. It's been a long day, but a good one.