My Baby Girl is Four!!

Yes, Leslie's birthday was yesterday and I am so sad. She is growing entirely too fast. It really seems like yesterday at 10:30 am Les and I woke up at 5:00 in the morning and headed to the hospital for an induction. Her birth was easy and beautiful. She did come out screaming at the world, but really she has never stopped doing that. Hee hee . JK She is a complete joy to me and I love waking up each morning waiting for her hug. Leslie is the most lovable and thoughtful person I probably will ever know. I am so very blessed God chose me to be her mother. Here is her birth picture and a pic from yesterday.

A Great Concert

My friend, Audra and her husband, Mike invited Les and I to a Clay Walker (a country singer) concert last night in Waco. So, we took the kids to my mom's house to stay the night while we partied like rock stars. Well, kind of. Les and Mike stayed up in the stands while Audra and I got to go onto the floor where we received dinner and unlimited drinks all night. Mike did not want to go with her on he floor because he did not want to get too close to the stage, but still wanted to go and have fun. Therefore, Les went with us to sit with Mike. Hee hee. They looked funny sitting up in the stands together, but oh well we had fun! You see, Audra and Mike go to almost every Clay Walker concert in Texas and Mike is sick of hearing all of the girls screaming. She is a huge fan-atic and now I see why! Clay puts on a great show. He sings really good live and has "drooling" dance moves. We got to go right up to the stage, well I will put is this way- my arms rested on the stage while we watched Clay and his band a few feet back. We also really couldn't hear the songs that well because we were actually behind the speakers that were facing the audience! Now I understand why singers have to wear those ear pieces, because they can't hear themselve over the guitar and drums and the speakers facing the audience. It was awesome! We tried to catch his sweaty towel and guitar picks, but no luck. However, he did come dance right over us while we could touch his pant legs. Wow. Audra made eye contact with him a couple of times and even got to shake his hand on stage! It was so much fun. I personally liked the guitarist. We were right in front of him and his amplifier. I can't hear much this morning, but I sure like to watch the guitarist play. There is something very sexy about a cute man playing a guitar. It was wonderful to get out of the house and have dinner and scream your lungs out!

I am Not Ready to Go Back!

Whew! I have been substituting at the elementary school for the past three days and boy am I exhausted. It was my first time back as an employee in the school system and I was nervous but excited. The first day I subbed for a first grade class and I thought the day would never end. Not that the kids were bad but just that I had not been away from home to work in so long, it seemed like forever! I did get to learn a lot on what is going on in the first grade with Nolan. I liked that of course. Then the next two days I have been subbing for Nolan's previous Kindergarten teacher. I actually had more fun in there than in the first grade room. The teacher had me do everything from reading books to singing songs on the CD player. Of course I love it especially since I used to be a Kindergarten teacher. HOWEVER I was never the "teacher" like the teacher I subbed for. It was my very first year and hired three weeks late, so I had no idea what I was doing. Now if I had a mentor like the teacher I subbed for today, I very well might have been teaching Kindergarten to this day. She makes everything seem so fun and boy she does not throw a thing a way. She has old VHS cases full of buttons, keys, shells, flat glass beads, EVERYTHING! I loved just walking around her room and see all of the manipulates she has for the kids learning. I can't wait to go sub for her again. Oh, I forgot to mention the best part- NAP TIME! I got an extra 40 minutes to go over the lesson plans and prepare. I like that a lot!
Am I ready to go back to teaching full time? Well, not quite! It is so very very hard to be with kids all day and them come home and deal with your own! I don't know how mom teachers do it! I have like no patience left for my own kids because I am just wiped out. Also it was hard being out of routine at home. Les actually took Leslie to school on Tuesday when she does not even go on Tuesdays! I thought that was funny. Substituting is a tough job too when you are trying to conduct a class while reading what you are supposed to be doing at the very same time. However, I will definitely go back and sub more. I just don't know if I will do three days in a row again in two different classes. Two days in one class is ideal.
Here's a funny story from the Kindergarten class:
I asked the class if they had ever been apple picking in the fall time. Most of the kids raised their hands. In amazement I replied that most apple trees are in the cold part of the US and asked if they were sure if they picked apples off of trees. One student spoke up and said, "I have only picked apples off a shelf!" I just died laughing!

Happy Birthday Kaden!

Wow, Kaden is already five years old today. I cannot believe how fast time flies. I still remember Cheri calling me telling me she was pregnant and how excited we are were for her and Ken. Then in a blink of an eye she called me from the hospital reporting she just had her first born child. Of course I dropped everything and went to visit. Kaden was just perfect and a complexion to die for. He looked like he just came from the beach. Oh, how precious he was and how wonderful Cheri looked. She was on cloud nine with a perfect glow of motherhood. It was so exciting!

We can't wait to see you on Saturday Kaden! You have a happy happy day today!

Our Daily Dialogue

Mom: Hey Nolan how was your day?

Nolan: Good, but they changed our lunch time.

Mom: What do you mean, Nolan?

Nolan:I did not have time to eat all of my lunch.

Mom: What?! (Looking into the lunch box full of food and unopened drink.) Nolan, I am going to call the school and find out what is going on.

Nolan: Well, I might be tricking you, but I did not get to eat my food.

Mom: Oooh, I see. Okay, Nolan I am going to call first thing in the morning and find out when lunch time is going to be. (Placing the untouched cut apples and Capri Sun into the refrigerator.)

Later that evening at the dinner table:

Mom: Les, can you believe that Nolan did not eat his lunch for the second day in a row?

Nolan: Well, it could have been the cookie......

Mom: Oooh, a cookie. What?! You ate a cookie before your lunch and then you were not hungry?

Nolan: Well, well ........ (Looking like a deer in the headlights.)

Mom: Where did you get quarter for the cookie?

Nolan: Someone gave it to me.

Mom: Who?

Nolan: I don't know their name.

Mom: Hmmm. (Knowing that he did know that name but did not want to say it.)
Well, tomorrow you better have eaten your lunch or no cookie for the rest of the year!

Why do kids think we are dumb parents? What is so funny is that he gave himself up by accident and did not even realize it until it was too late. FYI his lunch box was empty yesterday, so either he threw it away or actually ate it.

Go Texas Longhorns!

This is the start of a great season today. The Texas Longhorns play their first game and we are so excited! Leslie and Nolan have been primed to saying "hook em horns!" that I have to remind Leslie when she cheers for the Clifton Cubs to say "go Cubs" not Horns! It is funny. She is so confused, but hey she is on the right track. I have two little Longhorns in training. Here is a great picture of the Horns and some of the kids I took last year at opening season. It was before my blogging time.

Remember...."The Eyes of Texas are Upon You!"

Texas Texas Yee Haw!

"This is how to do Hook 'Em Horns, Lessie"

Yes, we got it now! Hook 'Em Horns!

Everybody do the Clifton Rumble!

Wooohooo. I am pumped for this football season! My adrenaline is pumping. It looks like Clifton is going to have a great season. We saw so many new things at the game last night. You know how I spoke of the town spirit, well it is even stronger. People sell Cub green T-shirts for fundraisers and do very well at them. My dad and Les made the big mistake of not wearing green and let me tell ya, they were reamed and bombarded to purchase a Cub shirt. The school or booster club purchased a new inflatable for the football guys to run under. You know how they used to run through the big posters the cheerleaders made, not any more! Now they run through a huge inflatable tent thing. We also saw new uniforms on the players and a huge flag that says Clifton cubs that runs across the field at every touchdown. It was awesome! Leslie did great at her cheering! She was so excited to see her friend Madison and all of the other tiny cheerleaders. I bet there was at least 30 of the little "wanna be's" out on the field. It was so cute! I have learned that this is what the girls do when they are young here in Clifton. It is like the big girls are training the young ones for "their" time. Like I said before, this is a football town through and through.

Can you find Leslie in the sea of green?

Leslie waved at she walked out onto the field.

She tries to act like and look like the "big girls".

Can't you just see this picture on their dressers when they are Senior Cheerleaders?

Go Leslie!!!