Merry Christmas!

December has been a whirlwind of a month. It is officially my busy season and this year was particularly busy. There were more performances this year than in years past and just extra stuff in general. But it has been a great month. I have enjoyed it so much! From playing Secret Santa at school, to my students performing at school, Barnes and Noble and MAD Pizza, to our faculty Christmas Party - there has been a lot going on. My students did fabulous at each performance and had fun - the most important part. I'm looking forward to having a couple of weeks off to spend with my favorite reindeer!! Henry came by school on Friday (he was with my mom) to see me and show me his Rudolph outfit from his party at school. He was so funny.

He was in the bathroom a few days ago and obviously spent some time thinking while in there because he came out and asked, "Mom, how come his name is Santa Claus when he doesn't even have any claws???" Hilarous!

Here is one more picture to share. I just figured out how to use pictures I take with my phone, so I hope to share more of those. Henry (sometimes) likes to go with me to Wal-Mart, but lately wants me to "bury" him under the groceries. This was a couple of weeks ago. He is completely covered but was quick to point out that he could still talk to me. He was careful not to cover up his mouth. People walking by wouldn't see him at first and would crack up laughing when they saw him. I think he definitely has Scottie's sense of humor!

We are having a great Christmast time and look forward to spending time with family and friends!

Thanksgiving

This year we spent Thanksgiving with Scottie's family (mom's side) in Wooster, Arkansas, at Uncle Danny and Aunt Sandy's house. They have a beautiful home there and were so generous to open their home to over 50 people on Thanksgiving Day! There was more food than we could possibly eat!

Me with Scottie's sister, Jamie.

Family and friends

My mom and me. Mom and dad came with us to spend the day in Wooster.

This is Scottie's cousin's girlfriend - everyone said we looked like sisters!

Doug and Jeremy. Jeremy is our nephew and was the ringbearer for our wedding when he was 6 years old. He in now in college!! Time flies!

Scottie and his sister, Shannon. They are about 18 months apart in age and have always been very close.

Henry posing with a Sprite can. So silly.

Scottie's dad. He and Scottie both came in from deer camp for the day.

It was a great day! We had so much fun and just enjoyed really visiting with family and friends.

On the way home, Henry and I had a little fun with the camera and traded goofy poses.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. It is busy season for me with concerts and performances every other day for the next couple of weeks. I hope to have some pictures up from some holiday festivities soon!

What I'm Thankful For

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holdiays. I cannot lie - it has a lot to do with the food. I have fond memories of my family celebrating Thanksgiving over the years. But I also can't help but reflect on all the things that I am thankful for this season each year. Here goes.

I am thankful for....

....my Lord. I don't know where I would be without my relationship with Christ. He is my savior and the only thing good in me. I cherish my time with him each day and hunger for his word more and more.

....my precious little family. I love my family so much. I love Scottie's heart and that he is a man of God, unashamed of the gospel. I love my son because he is so much like his daddy. They are home and where I want to be.

....my parents. I am so glad my parents live close enough to drive to my house when they want to visit, and vice versa. I enjoy spending time with them so much.

....my church family. Over the last 6 years, the member of FBC have become my 2nd family and I cherish them.

....my sweet friends. I am blessed with some wonderful friendships - both near and far away, people that I speak to often, and not as often. I love my friends with all my heart and look forward to our times together.

....my health. I thank God for healing and for health. I still deal with several side-effects related to the chemotherapy I received in 2007 and get frustrated from time to time with those side-effects. But they serve as a reminder that I am whole thanks to the great physician.

....my students. I love what I do. God put music in my heart and has allowed me to teach my passion to kids. I love being around my students (most of them) and watching them experience the pride of performing. Helping kids learn responsibility is not always easy, but I enjoy the time I have with them each day. I pray that God uses me in some small way to impact my students' lives.

I could go on and on. I have a home, reliable transportation, a warm bed and plenty of food to eat. I am so very blessed, beyond what I could hope for or ever deserve. I hope those of you reading this will take stock of the things you are thankful for this season (if you haven't already) and say a prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord.

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever." Psalm 107:1

7 Years Old

Henry turned 7 on October 2nd. Hard to believe!! On his birthday, Scottie and I took lunch to him at school and ate with him. After school I took him to see "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" and we made some final birthday party preparations.

His party was on Saturday, October 3rd at the KidZone (our children's building). It was Indiana Jone's-themed with all boys (H's choice). No girls were allowed. He had to think about whether or not his mom and grandmothers could attend because we are girls. In the end, he said we could. :-) Here are some highlights:

Henry wanted his guests to play Pin the Tail on the Donkey.

The party hats were Indiana Jones style fidoras! So cute.

The Roller Racers looked so fun, the grown-ups wanted to try!

Even Grama got on the Roller Racer!

It was a fun day - the KidZone is the perfect place to have a party. The kids really entertain themselves. I found some really great Indiana Jones game ideas on the internet, but Henry wanted none of it. I guess he knew there would be plenty for them to do!!

Visitors

Henry had his first buddy over to spend the night last Friday. Taylor came home with us after school and he and Henry had a blast! They rode H's 4-wheeler, watched a movie, played DS's and chased the cat, just to name a few things! We were tickled to have Taylor as our guest and can't wait for him to come back again!!

My Aunt Sibil (mom's sister) and Uncle Ed from Connecticuit were in Northwest Arkansas to visit my parents and grandparents for the last two weeks. Saturday night, Scottie, Henry and I met them at Catfish Hole for dinner and then took them to our church for them to see the youth building. We had a great time visiting with them.

My mom and aunt. My aunt says she looks worse in pictures when she smiles, so she doesn't smile! She is funny. She is 3 years older than my mom.

Three ladies!!

The fam!! I really like this picture of all of us.

Henry with his Gramma and Papa. Henry turns 7 tomorrow - hardly seems possible. I will try to have birthday pics up in a timely fashion!!

Henry Funny

Dinner time is a battle at our house. Henry wants to be finished pretty quickly after starting to eat. We are concerned that he doesn't really know what "full" means! He never seems to get there. A couple of weeks ago, Henry was eating dinner and wanting to be finished shortly after starting.
I said, "You need to keep in eating because there is too much going on with your plate for you to be finished already!"
His reply, "Nobody's dancing, so this party is over!" I had a hard time keeping a straight face on that one.

First Grade

We officially have a first grader in our house. It is so hard for me to believe!!

Henry really likes school. He tells us his favorite subject is math and this week he was awarded a Certificate of Excellence by his teacher for "Marvelous Mathematician."

Henry told me I could not take any pictures on the first day of school, but I did anyway. His facial expressions tell the story.

I love this picture...little tongue sticking out and all.

We were able to snap a picture of Henry and his classmates doing the pledge before we left. What a sweet picture!!

Nothin' Says Vacation...Like Tulsa

WOW....I am a bad blogger. I have been playing too much Farkle on Facebook to blog - how sad!! Oh well - better late than never. I promise blogger friends, I will try to do better!! I pledge to make blogging more of priority!!

The week before school started back for me Scottie, Henry and I took a little vacation to Tulsa. We had planned to go to the beach at some point, but we bought a couch and really and truly the summer got away from us. I am realizing that we have to plan it or it just won't happen. Summers are busy. Anyway, we had a great time in Tulsa. I had been there with my mom to shop before, but really hadn't been there to just hang out. I thought it was a perfect trip. Scottie sang our theme song the whole time we were there..."Nothin' Says Vacation...Like Tulsa." Ask him to sing it for you - I am sure he will!!

Before we left, I got on the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce website and found a good deal on our hotel. We stayed at the Hampton Inn at Woodland Hills (right across the street from the mall...woot woot) and took advantage of their Weekend Escape for Family package. We had a nice room with a king sized bed for Scottie and me and a sofa sleeper for Henry. He LOVED it. He thought his bed/couch was magical. With the package, we each got a $5 game card and free game of mini-golf from Incredible Pizza Company (also right by our hotel) and a snack pack which included drinks for all of us, microwave popcorn and candy. It was a great deal!! When we got there we went to Incredible Pizza and played. It was great fun!

The next day we went to the Oklahoma Aquarium. I think I can speak for all of us...it was so cool! Definitely worth seeing.

Scottie and Henry feeding some stingrays.

My favorite part of the Aquarium was the shark tunnel. It was shark week on the Discovery Channel and we watched some of the shows that aired that week from our hotel room. Getting to see them up close was very cool.

Henry and Scottie standing by the World's Largest Fishing Lure. There was a fishing museum in the Aquarium that was also very interesting.

I love how real this picture looks. It's a little disturbing, though.

The last day of our vacation we stopped by the Tulsa Air and Space Museum to check things out. Little did we know it was Oklahoma Defender Days and very crowded. But we got to see some really cool planes.

Henry got to try out being an astronaut!



He also got to experience laying on a bed of nails.

We had a great time even though we didn't go very far from home. Henry's favorite part about it all was the hotel. Every time we went anywhere he asked how long until we went back to our hotel. He loved that they served breakfast in the mornings, the elevator, and he got to be in charge of the room key. It was very exciting to him. We think our next venture may be up to the Embassy Suites in Rogers - just so he can have another experience staying in a hotel!

School has started back and we are very busy. I've been reflecting back over the summer a little bit...here's how I spent mine...
...with my favorite 1st grader. First day pics coming soon.