Weekend Wrap Up

No no, you didn't miss anything. Our friends Jared and Addie are due with their precious baby boy April 5th and we had their baby shower yesterday. It was a come and go baby shower which Dave just couldn't grasp on to. He kept telling me "We're going to be late babe" as he was rushing me to get ready. He finally got the concept when we arrived and people were leaving and coming and leaving again. It was at a friend's house that was BEAUTIFUL! I got some great ideas for a few projects around the house. Any who, Addie is just a radiant mom-to-be and we had a great time. Dave's first baby shower, I'm sure he is just waiting for another one to attend (wink, wink!)

Today has consistent of some major study time for me! I'm trying to get all the studying I can in before Saturday. Although I will be taking a little break to watch a tiny bit of the Grammy's. Have to catch up on all the new music hype and see all the stars in their dress up gear!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

A Tribute to my favorite teachers

I have to admit, today I subbed for a Teacher's Aide in a Special Education class and let me tell you what an eye opener it was. I am very much enjoying the whole subbing process and each time I do it I learn something new about the teaching experience. I can say today was a very gratifying day. I helped many children read assignments and do their work along with observing the teachers in their elements and how they interact with the kids. It felt very rewarding to see the kids when the moment of "Ahhh that's the answer!"came across. I can see how fulfilling and worthwhile each day of being an educator can be along with understanding that subbing is not the same as teaching each and every day. But I look forward to the day of having a classroom of my own with kids who's names I know and the opportunity to challenge along with coaching them to the "right" path in life.

So I thought I would share a few of my favorite teachers throughout the years and why they were so special to me!

• My first grade teacher Mrs. Standefur. I have so many incredible memories of why she made such a great educator but I think the one main thing I remember about her was how fun she was. We had story time and she was such a great story teller. She was also my Mom's best friend so I got the opportunity to see her as a person rather just my teacher. We used to take a yearly trip with many other families and the adults (Mrs. Standefur and my mom included) would do knee races in the living room. You would cross your legs in an Indian style like normal and then stand up on them and race across the floor (sounds a little strange as I explain it but it was a hoot!) Mrs. Standefur lost her battle with cancer many years ago so that will always be something I remember about her........she was a very special lady.

• Mrs. Anderson was my third grade teacher and two main things come to mind. If the class was good all year, behavior and grade wise, Mrs. Anderson promised to do her famous headstand. I have absolutely no idea how this came to be but I can still recall the day it finally came where she stood on her head, we were all so impressed. Another very special memory was when she took me to the movie. She came to pick me up on a Saturday and took me to see the movie of my choice. We got Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and shared a coke. I must have done something spectacular for her to spend her Saturday with one of her students so needless to say I felt very important.

• Mrs. Heisig, our cheerleader sponsor and Sociology teacher in high school. Oh my how our squad put her through the ringer! I look back now and just ask how did she not quit? She was very positive and I think during that period of time I learned much about leadership and "doing the right thing". There were many, many issues that came about during my senior year of high school and some hard moments that tested my integrity but as I look back I'm proud of the choices I made and know that Mrs. Heisig helped to direct how I handled those situations.

I sincerely hope one day one of my students will be saying some positive kind things about me. Even with all the "stuff" that goes along with teaching, I'm still certain that this is what God is directing me to do. Good things to come!!

Doggy Seizures

My poor Buddy had a seizure today. Our lab, C'Mere, has had them for some time but I got a text from Dave tonight that Buddy had one too. This one lasted a long time, 5 mintues. And it's so scary when you have to watch your animal who can't communicate experience it. I could only imagine how a mother feels when their child has to experience things like these. Poor puppy. But the main reason I am writing about this specifically is to see if anyone else has had issues like this with their dogs? The only common factor between C'Mere and Buddy is their food, which we have switched many times and really can not figure out what is causing it. Anyone else out there in blog world have any ideas what could be causing it?

Birthday and Projects

Dave and I have been working on a few projects around the house lately. Dave has been working on his "man" room which he keeps all his fishing gear, hunting things, and little trinkets he finds that doesn't really have a place in any other part of the house. He is very proud of his decorating skills. It's pretty cute actually, we made a trip to Hobby Lobby and I think he got a little glimpse as to why I love to go there!! I had to limit his shopping, there was just to much there he wanted.

My parents got him this super cool space saver fishing pole holder to keep his very important rods and reels. Thank goodness! I was started to think the living room was his safe haven for his many tackle boxes and fishing poles. He also loves the shadow box, he has a fishing box and hunting box on the other side of the gun cabinet.

I on the only hand LOVE my new decorative dishes for my kitchen! My mom is such a good shopper!! So now my shelves in the kitchen actually have something on them I like!

I also finally painted my chalkboard in my kitchen that I wanted. I painted the wall with chalkboard paint and found some trim I liked then painted it as well. Dave cut them to fit it and then hung them for me. I'm still buying a shelf for under neath it to keep my chalk and eraser so Dave knows the menu for the night........ I'm sure spaghetti, meatloaf and some sort of potato will be written on this chalkboard many nights in the future.

And I was SO happy that I finally decided what I wanted to do with the window my mom found and made for our wedding. I LOVE IT!!!! It was hung in the barn and I just couldn't decide what I wanted to do with it. Dave should never forget our anniversary since the date is now hanging in our living room, aren't I just so smart? I am on the look out for some shutters to paint and hang them next to it. I'm thinking brown, what do you think?!

We also celebrated one of Dave's closest friends birthdays! Jodie B turned 29 on the 23rd. That's how Dave remembers it, "Jodie B 123" Silly I know but hey whatever works :) We met Whitney and Cody for dinner and then met up with Jodie and Jared later on to ring in his birthday. Happy Birthday Jodie!!! Thanks for a good time!!

I'm off to bed, it's been a loonngg weekend and after working today I'm pooped! Have a great week everyone!!

Husbands DO get it every now and then

I came home from work last night and when I turned on the lights in the bathroom this is what I found. I know you can't read it very clearly so this is what it says:

"Reasons why I am madly in love with you"

1. You make me want to be a better man
2. You are the most beautiful WOMAN in the world
3. You have the kindest soul in God's universe
4. You are the most creative person I have ever met
5. You are hotter than a hot pocket**

Thank you for loving me!

-Dave

Now what wife wouldn't want to come home and find that posted on the bathroom mirror to read. It definitely made me smile and by Thursday (when Dave and I haven't seen each other in four days) it makes me happy to know my hubby remembers us women need a little reminder every now and then about how they feel.

Isn't my hubby just the best?! :)

**Dave and I had heard this somewhere a long time ago and somehow it just stuck with him, he is so romantic (tee hee)**

Wordless Wednesday

New Favorite Shows

OK, so I admit it. My name is Brooke and I'm a TV junkie. I can't help it. There are many shows of which will always be my favorite(The Office, Friends, ER; none of which are educational I know) but I have found several NEW shows that are just as super. And might I add, I have been highly disappointed with The Office, hello can we get a new episode every now and then?

Being Erica comes on the SOAP channel and it's just fabulous. The new season kicks off January 20th and you bet my DVR will be set on this one.

Modern Family is hilarious!! Thanks to my Dad for turning Dave and I onto this show. It's the same set up as The Office, you know the interviews, funny looks at the camera, awkward conversations.

And our last favorite.......the Discovery Channel has this new version which covers more rare animals and goes further into the ocean to discover creatures no one has heard of yet. Every time I watch this show it just amazes me and I literally tell Dave all the time "How can anyone not believe in God after seeing all these wonderfully detailed creatures?" Sounds simple I know but it's just utterly astonishing to me. I received an email once that spoke of God and his incredible attention to detail and how through everything on Earth we can see his love of diversity. Pretty unbelievable!

You know there isn't much going on in our lives when I am blogging about new shows on TV, um maybe I need a hobby!

I do have a few things I will be posting later on this week for some projects I have been working on. I completed one today and LOVE it!! More on that later........

Have a great Monday everyone!

Fun Uncle Dave

We had the kids over last night and it was a night full of play time!! And let me tell you Uncle Dave is a fun guy! We played Battleship (thanks to my wonderful gift giver mother) although Braiden was not to happy that Uncle Dave beat us, ey that's ok!

Brenna got a little bored and decided to play her leapster game instead, she sat in that chair for a while being super quiet and was really concentrating. Then it was time for Nerf wars. Each of the kids have a Nerf gun and Dave has the Daddy of all Nerf guns, it's a semi-automatic Nerf gun that shoots 30 rounds of Nerf bullets (thanks again to my mother who stood in line at 430 in the morning to buy Jason and Dave those toys).

Uncle Dave wins!! The kids had so much fun shooting Uncle Dave and Brenna boo was way to cute with the "big" gun. All in all it was a fun night!!

**don't worry, neither Braiden nor Brenna was hurt during the war game. On the contrary, Uncle Dave only won because of his size.

Give back and eat a steak

Hello all who live in the area! This Friday, Texas Roadhouse in Grand Prairie will be hosting a charity luncheon for an employee who had has some very traumatic events happen in the past few weeks. They are opening up at 11am for lunch and all proceeds (tips and all) will be donated to help with some expensive costs as this family has dealt with an unexpected death along with robbery. If you can, please stop by and enjoy a great lunch and know all your money will be going to help someone in a situation beyond their control. Plus I will be there so you can come say hello to me!!

If you need the address please email me and I will send it to you, bep0507@yahoo.com

Have a great Thursday!!

Man's Best Friend

This is what we have been doing most of the weekend, well me. I can not shake this cold/whatever it is! I've been trying to rest as much as possible and just take it easy. We did go grab some dinner last night and then came home to me taking a nap while Dave watched his Cowboys whoop it up on the Eagles. I was awaken to him screaming at the tv with excitement and managed to get up and watch the rest of the game.

We have the best dogs. C'Mere and Buddy have both just kept me company the past few days as I haven't been feeling great. Although now that I think about it, they both get to lay around and take naps everyday, hmmmmm. Maybe they weren't keeping me company!

I'm thinking if I don't start feeling more like myself this week I'll go into the doctor for medicine to kick this bug. And hopefully the weather this week will be better than last week. I like the cold but geez, anything (to me) below freezing is just to cold.

Hope you all have a great week!

Friday Night

plus

=

one happy girl!!!

Thanks babe for a wonderful movie night!!

**and thank you medicine for allowing me to get off the couch today to enjoy the night with my hubby

Mom's Birthday

January 5th is my Mom's birthday so as tradition goes in our family we met up for a birthday dinner! Another year has passed, it always seems to me that after the holidays time begins to speed up. Pretty soon it will be February and we will be celebrating Dad and Jenna's birthday (this one is a BIG one for Jenna, what to do?! I think we will come up with something!)

I got my first call this morning to sub although with me being a little under the weather I didn't think it was such a great idea I went into a school full of kids so I opted not to sub today. But good news is I am in the system and ready to rock and roll!

Happy Wednesday ya'll!

Not Me Mondays

MckMama is up again on the Not Me Mondays so why not participate. I have nothing better to blog about.

After starting to feel not so great yesterday afternoon, it was not me who went to the store and bought just about every over the counter medicine I could grab. My goal for this year was to not get sick and I'm feeling a little under the weather. So needless to say, I passed out a little early and slept in a little late. Still not feeling up to par but I'm okay. I still do not understand how I actually caught a cold, sinus infection, whatever this is. I am literally the biggest germ-a-phob and I use my sanitizer after I touch just about everything!

My "oil life" light has been on for about a week now. And it was not me who keeps putting it off hoping, just hoping my husband would do it for me. I can not stand to get my oil changed, it's more because I would rather be doing so many other productive things.

I worked last weekend and let me tell you, someone has done something with my memory. It's horrible now. I literally felt like I was running around with my head cut off and couldn't remember what I was needing. It was not me who threw away an order and had to go back to the table and retake it while they stared at me like I was crazy. Nor was it me who delivered the wrong food to the wrong table and ended up having to have the order re-cooked because obviously that "wrong" table didn't know what they ordered either because they ate it. Honestly, who doesn't remember what they ordered?

And last, it was not me who treated myself to a day at the spa all alone. I simply woke up yesterday and decided that I needed a day to re-coop. Am I the only one who feels guilty about that kind of thing? As I was sitting in my chair getting my toes painted I couldn't help but think there was something better I could be spending my money on (and even though I continued on with my pedicure I still felt guilty as I was paying).

What have you not done lately?

Successful Trip

January brings many different things as we enter the new year, the last weekend to deer hunt is one of them. Dave left Friday morning for an all boys hunting trip and after speaking with him this morning he was beyond excited to have been able to shoot something. Anyone who knows my husband knows how much he likes to hunt and it was killing him that he didn't get to go all season. He sent me this picture and I had to post it, mainly to document that he actually shot something! (to anyone who doesn't believe in the sport of hunting, my apologies for the picture but I will add that we do eat the meat. I'm looking forward to it!)

My weekend has involved nothing but work. I really didn't have anything else on my agenda so I figured why not. Although tomorrow will consist of some much needed studying for my content exam and a few areas of the house that are in dire need of cleaning. Anyone want to come help?