Finally

I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for fall. It's finally here, and so is this...


Literally one of my favorite things in life. Pumpkin pie spice creamer (in a large bottle)!! It makes my coffee taste like a crisp fall day.



Madeley and I stayed home today because she's been a little sick. After a five minute visit at the after hours clinic last night, the doctor said she had croup and prescribed some steroids. They really helped, and I think she's starting to feel better. It's back to school for us tomorrow.

And I must share yesterday's outfit with you. I was reluctant, but Madeley could not have been happier.


Here's the classic "let me take your picture" pose...


Is this the beginning of the Disney Princess obsession? Because Madeley LOVES that shirt!! Thanks Aunt Jessica for buying it.


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Feeding Precious

So we had Madeley outside playing tonight... in her diaper, don't judge us. Anyway, I got Madeley and Precious, the deer, a bowl of grapes. Since Madeley has no intentions of sharing, I had to get Precious her own bowl. We actually started the film because it's funny to hear Madeley say no when we ask her to share. We never expected that she would actually share... just a little bit. You may be able to tell, I was very surprised!

It seems as though I am covered up with after school activities this week, so the little bit of time I get with Derrick and Madeley is wonderful.

Thanks for reading!

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Great day

I have several pictures to share, so stick with me.

First of all, Madeley is not good at modeling new outfits for pictures. Here's yesterday's Razorback outfit...


Why couldn't she just smile? This is literally the best I could get.


We tried again today with the witch outfit. I said "smile" and this is what I got...


I finally got her to slow down enough for a quick shot.



We spent the day at Dad's house. He took Madeley and Caroline for rides on the lawn mower.


Great fun!!

Here are a few pictures taken throughout the day...





Goofy girl





Sweet kiss, ha ha.


Playing with Caroline


They were having lots of fun!

Great day at Dad's!!

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I saw this quote today, and I absolutely love it.



On a lighter note, a quote Jessica gave me today made me laugh out loud. Keep in mind that I dress extremely casual and Jessica dresses to perfection. Today, I was wearing black stretchy walmart pants, an oversized t-shirt, and a bad hairdo. Jessica was wearing an adorable shirt with black leggings and cute hair. Here's the quote:

Dress as if you may be murdered and found in the clothes you are wearing.

Now, I know it's a little extreme, but I definitely would not have wanted to be seen/found in the outfit I was wearing today. You know what I mean? I laugh, because this may actually cross Jessica's mind when she's choosing outfits. She's crazy!

Thanks for reading!


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Pinterest

Madeley and I spent an hour looking at pinterest last night and today. She loves pictures of babies and animals. On my iPhone, she skims through with her finger until she finds one she likes and taps on it. Here are a few of her picks...

Piglet... Madeley snorted at it.



Adorable kitten... Madeley said meow.



She belly laughed at this picture.



She liked this one, but not as much as me. It cracks me up!!



On this one, Madeley pointed to her toes. It kind of freaks me out a little though. It looks a lot like blood.



And how cute is this little art project?!



Here's Madeley taking a few pictures of herself...









Mad face...


She looks at me like this all the time!

Sorry for the blurriness. I guess I can't expect perfection when I let her take pictures of herself.

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Right now, I'm reading The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank. It isn't about hunting and fishing at all, which may disappoint Derrick. He may have been hoping it would encourage me to join him in his hobbies. Anyway, my mother bought it for me at a used bookstore about four years ago. I guess I forgot about it, but luckily I did. If I had read this book four years ago, I don't think I would have liked it at all. But now, it is so interesting. I can't put it down! If you've ever read it, let me know.

Hope you have a great weekend. Madeley and I are headed to Derrick's duck camp this afternoon. I'm sure I'll come back with an interesting blog post.

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County fair

We ignored the rainy weather and took Madeley to the fair tonight. We really wanted her to see the animals, which are in a covered barn, so we knew we'd stay dry. And oh goodness, was she ever excited. She loves animals SO MUCH!!


The pigs were her favorite.


One of my students even let Madeley pet her pig!


When the pigs would snort and oink, Madeley just snorted back at them. She was adorable!!

Once the rain slacked off, we went and spent a fortune on fair food. Literally. But I can't pass up a carmel apple, so who cares how much they cost?

Once we got home, I started Madeley's bath water and went to my room to change clothes. I thought she was playing in the living room... ummm, nope. She was giving her bunny a bath in the toilet. Nice, huh? She was so proud of herself. I immediately put the bunny in the washer. But when bed time came, it was still washing. I gave her the replacement bunny, and she threw it. I'm not sure how she can tell a difference, but she definitely can! Surprisingly, she was able to go right to sleep without fussing. She was exhausted!

I'm so glad we had a great family night!!

Fun Times

Tonight we went to Madeley's first parade. She and Derrick were equally excited about the candy.



Yummy sucker!!



Madeley cried when she heard the band coming, but after that, she had a great time.

Not sure if y'all remember the video of Madeley and Derrick playing Tozzle. Derrick would play the matching game, and Madeley would get SO excited when he won. Well, now Madeley can do it all by herself. She's growing up so fast!!

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Happy Birthday Caroline!!

Caroline is 6 today!! I can't believe it! I remember the day she was born, and it just seems like yesterday. She's getting so big! She's smart, strong willed, and interesting. She's in kindergarten, but she can do any addition and subtraction and she could read almost all of her birthday cards. She's excelling academically, which makes us all proud. Jessica took cupcakes to school today, and the entire cafeteria sang Happy Birthday to Caroline.


She also had a sleepover Friday night...


And an ice cream party at Häagen-Dazs yesterday. We all enjoyed delicious sundaes in any flavor we picked. Madeley literally ate whatever was put in front of her.
Jessica promised to send me those precious photos soon.

Here are few cute pics of Madeley yesterday...


Singing Boogie Fever...



I'm off to grade... lovely.
Have a great night!

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Runny nose

Madeley has only been "sick" once in her life. She was three months old and went into respiratory distress because of RSV. I was a pro at suctioning her nose. I mean, she weighed like 10 pounds... how could I not be? Anyway, there have been a few stomach virus scares here and there, but for the most part she's been a healthy little girl. Now, since we've been exposed to the daycare coodies and all, she has a consistent runny/gooky nose. And it's gross. I have fought with her a few times in attempt to clean her nose... but not with much success. I finally admitted today that I think she's stronger than me. She wins the fights. Maybe I give in because I don't want to hurt her by awkwardly holding her tight enough to get that nose. I don't know.

Well, I ended up being somewhat successful today. If I caught her off guard, I could swipe my t-shirt across her nose and get a clean sweep. Yes, my shirt. Did it four times, and I felt accomplishment each time. Then, by 3:00, she was cleaning her own nose... and doing an awesome job. She had a wet wipe and was either blowing or wiping until her nose was completely clean. She looked like a brand new child! I was so proud! She then proceeded to wipe the nose of everything in the house... book characters, baby dolls, the giraffe rug, puzzle pieces. It was adorable!

Clean nose




Madeley has this crazy habit of turning her bunny pink side up and laying down on it. She'll do this anywhere... my lap, the kitchen chairs, the top of the toilet, the stool in my closet, the recliner, the tray of her high chair, wherever! Her teacher even mentioned it to me. She said, "She sure does like the pink side up. She won't settle for it any other way."
That's the truth!!



Thanks for reading!

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Bedtime

I'm actually about to go to bed. It's 9:15, and I'm so happy about it! This week has been extra exhausting. It's just seemed like one of those weeks that will never end, but tomorrow's Friday!! I hope the extra sleep I get tonight will rejuvenate me and help me make it through tomorrow successfully.

I have taken a break from reading this week, but I have three books waiting and a long list compiling. I have found that reading young adult fiction really gives me connection to my students. Now, not all of them find reading a luxury. But the ones that do can talk about it for days. I love it! I'm actually taking my advisory to the library next week, and I can't wait! I mean, I never get to go to the library. I hope students eventually learn that reading is an amazing outlet. It took me years to learn it, but I'm so happy I know it now. If you have any wonderful book suggestions, let me know! My list is getting longer and longer, but there's always room for more.

Thanks for reading!!


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Wednesday Loves

It's time for Wednesday Loves.



It's Big Brother finale night!! We have some friends over, and I made some special cups. If you watch Big Brother, you should get it.



I love these Pinterest pics that Jessica sent me this week...
Great fall list!



This is so true for me. I was actually off the lesson plan today and stressed about it all day!



I love my Madeley. She's so sweet and I can't wait to spend the weekend with her!

I better run... I've got a lot to watch and friends to visit with!

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Wasted time

Once again, Derrick and I have wasted WAY too much time on reality television tonight. I think we've been watching the Bachelor Pad finale since yesterday... no, for real since 7:00. Five minutes is way to long to watch that show, much less three hours!! We were definitely sucked into the uncomfortableness of the contestants tell all portion. Glad that show is over. I will no longer have to battle with my common sense telling me not to watch it. The Bachelor is coming up soon though. We can all look forward to that!

Derrick and I are now watching Rob Dyrdek's Ridiculousness show on MTV. Now, that's some great stuff! We laugh from beginning to end.

Parenthood is back tomorrow night and I CAN'T WAIT!! Then Big Brother finale on Wednesday.

What would we do without tv? I don't know... clean, maybe. Laundry. Grade papers. I need to prioritize.

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Today was a good day. The kind of day that reminds me that teaching can be great. It has been a rough start, but I'm seeing glimpses of the job I love. So glad to be close to Madeley and close to home!

Thanks for reading!


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Sweet Madeley

Here are some Madeley pictures, as promised.

This is when she's the sweetest...


She was utterly exhausted in that picture. Once she got into her carseat, it was less than five minutes and she was out!

Her latest obsession is bubbles. She says "bubbles, bubbles, bubbles" all the time!!





Happy happy!!


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Lighten up

There are many times a day that I feel the need to tell myself to lighten up. I'm super uptight when it comes to Madeley, my classes, and staying on a schedule. I guess life isn't about schedules. So I should be happy I have a schedule for Madeley and my classes, but not bent out of shape when things don't go as planned. Last night, we spent the evening with our friends Rebekah and Aaron. You may know, Rebekah has three kids, and she goes with the flow. She rolls with the punches. You know what I mean. She's easy going and not much gets her worked up. Me, on the other hand, I follow Madeley around... making sure she's clean, happy, and okay at all times. At the end of the day, all our kids are clean, safe, and happy... even the ones that weren't stalked by their mother. Wouldn't it be easier on me to lighten up and have a little more fun? I do enjoy spending time with friends while our kids play. I'm so thankful for those fun, laughing moments that seem to come at the end of a stressful week when we need them most. If I had hurried home at 8:00 to put Madeley in bed, I would have missed all that. Thanks to Rebekah for teaching me that I'm can loosen up and still be a great mother!

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Even though it's 11:35 right now, I'm happily sipping my first cup of hot coffee and listening to Norah Jones. I'm relaxed and happy. I have a very distinct memory of spending an entire day with my mother listening to Norah Jones. She loved her! We put the CD in the DVD player so it would play over the TV speaker. Then we sang, cleaned, and visited the entire day. It was wonderful! I'm sure she attempted to dance a few times, but I made her stop. I wish I would have let her. I wish I would have let her sing whenever she wanted too, because now I sing all the time without knowing all the words. I hope Madeley never tells me to stop. I miss my mom. I'm sure if you loved her, you miss her too.

I'll blog again later today with some sweet pictures of Madeley. Thanks for reading!!


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Wednesday Loves

It's time to hear what I'm loving this week.



I'm loving my wonderful husband, Derrick. He has gone above and beyond to help me tonight. I can't thank him enough. He must have seen the desperation in my eyes and knew I needed him. I can relax now.

I love my little mess, Madeley. Every day.



I'm almost finished with Mockingjay, the third book in The Hunger Games series. Since school has started, I don't get a lot of reading time. I hope to finish the book this weekend. I don't know what I'll do when I'm finished. Katniss and Peeta are a huge part of my life right now. I can't tell you how much I've loved these books! I hope I find something good to move on to!

I'm too tired to think of anything else...

Thanks for reading!!

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Weather

The weather was heavenly today. The air was fresh and crisp this morning, and I even wore a sweater outside for morning duty. It's kind of hard to see the good side of 7:30 outside duty, but I saw it today. It was the perfect start to my day. I opened my classroom windows for a few minutes during class, and you would have thought my students were just released from prison. They squealed with excitement!

Crisp, cool, fall air puts me in the best mood. It's like I wait all summer for that first fall day. Pumpkin spiced creamer will be out before I know it, and I've already heard rumors of Starbucks releasing their latte. Can't wait!!!!



I hope you enjoy fall! Thanks for reading.

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