Hello!!!!

Hello! It's Me!!! Yes, I have thought of sitting down and writing a post many times but yikes where does the time go!!! Seriously,we have welcomed in a New Year, celebrated Valentine's, 100th day of school, Read Across America week and St. Patrick's Day!!! We also had a WHOLE week off for a surprise March ice/snow. Luckily, we will still get to enjoy 3 days off next week for a shortened but much anticipated spring break. Hoping for some nice warmer weather-the campground is calling our name!!!
Kirk is loving Lambuth-my college alma mater or should I say he's enjoying the friendships he is making there. :) I can't say that college courses are his favorite although he continues to do well academically. Kara is moving right along in her junior year of high school. She has stayed busy as region 2 FBLA president, student council vp, class officer, AB officer, babysitting, nursery worker at church, church activities and the list goes on... She has been busy helping plan the Junior/Senior prom which is April 17th (her 17th birthday!!!) 😄We have the dress, the shoes, the hairpiece, etc.:) We have scheduled her senior picture sitting in June. Hard to believe she's winding up her high school years.😳 Kali has been spending every MINUTE possible practicing basketball. She says she is trying out for the middle school team. I'll let you know how that goes...:)
My class has had a productive semester so far and I really feel that they have made great strides in their learning. I really hope when testing time rolls around whether TCAP or AIMSWEB that the numbers and data show it. I know the progress they have made but not sure how things will play out when testing day rolls around... I think this is a worry/concern that all teachers have now. Sad but true. Time is running out and this school year like all the others will soon be a memory. I love my students and can honestly say without a doubt that they are all very kindhearted sweet boys and girls and are well behaved. In the grand scheme of things, that counts for ALOT whether a test shows it or not.
God bless you and yours!!!

Happy New Year!

Wow! Christmas break came and is lingering on. We were supposed to head back today but due to extreme cold we were out today and are out tomorrow. It's always exciting to get the phone call that says no school. I'm just hoping the next time it will be because of a beautiful layering of SNOW!!! When we get back Wednesday, I think it best if we just do a lot of reviewing over the skills we have covered thus far this year. It's difficult to get back in the swing after a few days off much less almost 3 weeks.:)
My family enjoyed a blessed Christmas time. We were all well and that in itself is a gift. Kirk has been home from college and spent a lot of time working at Imart. He will be moving in next week to the Lambuth campus of UofMemphis. Kara has been busy learning how to operate her sewing embroidery machine that she got for Christmas and getting in some extra time babysitting. Kali has just enjoyed being off of school!
Marty and I celebrated 20 years of marriage  Dec.18. We will try to go out and celebrate when it gets a little warmer. Too cold to get out in this kind of weather.
We got to keep our sweeties Eliajh and Annalesa for several days and nights last week while their mom and dad went with our high school band to the chick fil a bowl in Atlanta. There is absolutely nothing that compares to having little ones around. :) they are so funny with their cute expressions and sayings plus I love to rock them and snuggle with them. Yes they are spoiled when they are with us but that's the way it should be!
I have enjoyed my break. I did very little regarding school and I mean very little. I took advantage of the break and used it. Other than running to school the Monday before Christmas to grab all the stuff that I literally walked off and left on our last day that Thursday and make sure I had everything ready for this week (which will have to be revamped anyway due to extra days out), cutting out some laminating that has been in my pantry for awhile, reading a few blogs, doing a little tpt browsing and that's it. That's all I did related to school and you know what I'm ok with that. I am prepared for when I go back and I wanted time with MY FAMILY AND MY CHILDREN.
I am not setting resolutions. Instead I'm going to use a church's sign that I saw and really liked as my motto-"Daily devotion is better than yearly resolution." I am daily devoting some time to bible study everyday. I have done fairly well with this these past few years so hoping to make it my best year yet when it comes to that. I am convinced if I do this then I can tackle whatever comes my way with a good perspective, attitude and smile.:)
Happy New Year to all! Many blessings to you and yours and yes I will be happy to see my sweeties on Wednesday!:)

3 and 1/2 days

Yes that's right just 3 1/2 more days until Christmas break! I can not believe how fast this first semester has gone by although this past week seems to have been the longest.:) In just the last few weeks, I have seen my sweeties grow up so much. It is amazing how that seems to happen this time of the year in Kindergarten and even more so after Christmas break.
Next week we will be busy with Christmas activities- a school trip to the theatre to see Santa Buddies, a special animal show at school, the 2nd grade Christmas program, our Polar  Express pajama day, and last but not least our Christmas party on Thursday morning.
We have been busy making Christmas ornaments, reading lots of Christmas books along with Reading, Math and finishing up 3rd six weeks assessments.
I have been thinking a lot lately about how we are assessing these poor kids all the time. If it's not one kind of test,it's another. I can't help but worry about those kids who are struggling and some of them are aware that they are not performing as well as other kids in their class. I worry that these children are going to get to where they don't want to come to school, have poor self esteem and will begin acting out because of the pressure we are putting on them to perform at levels that some of them are simply not ready to. When I think about these things, it reminds me that I need to spend time focusing on each child and making sure that they don't start feeling this way. If I spend more time focusing on an assessment score than I do a child's heart then I have lost all perspective as a teacher.
As far as my own three k's they are all doing well. Kirk finished his first semester of college and is back home for Christmas break. Kara continues to stay busy with school, club activities and babysitting. She was sad that the St. Jude half marathon in Memphis that she trained for months for had to be cancelled last weekend due to the ice. She is planning on doing a half marathon in the spring that will also benefit St. Jude. Kali seems to have been overloaded the last few weeks with school work at night. Another reminder that I am blessed to have children who do well in school and to be patient and understanding with those students who it doesn't come so easy to.
I hope that all of you are looking forward to a wonderful Christmas break and I hope it allows you lots of time to spend with your own families because as teachers I feel that we often spend more time devoting our time to other people's children than our own.
Just a reminder that I write this blog as a journal for me to always have of  my life as a mother, a wife, a teacher and a child of God. I am not trying to glorify my life as any of these things. What I choose to do is focus on the good in all of us-my students and my own family and friends. We all face daily struggles at work and sometimes home that I may express to others on a personal confidential basis but I would never put anything on here regarding students or family and friends for all to read. Just another reminder to myself to seek out the good in all of us as I hope you will in me. If you take the time to read my blog via Facebook,then take the time to click follow me on my blog because sometimes I don't share it on Facebook.:) You can sign up to receive an email notification when I make a new post. God Bless you and yours!!!

Cotton gin, Thanksgiving and Christmas Oh My!!!!

Woo hoo! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving feast last Tuesday in our class and I had a wonderful break with my family!!! It just went too dog gone fast. It does help though knowing that Christmas break is just around the corner.:) We will hit the ground running tomorrow to make sure we finish up all the standards addressed during this six weeks so that we can get those assessed. Of course, I stated pulling out all my Christmas books to take and get started reading on at school. To say I have a lot is an understatement!!!
The Monday before Thanksgiving break our kindergarten classes toured the cotton gin in McLemoresville, TN. My brother is the owner there as well as a cotton farmer. The gin has been in our family for MANY years. Thankful for my brother and all of our farmers. :) As I said, our Thanksgiving feast went off great! I had lots of compliments on how well the students were behaved and that always makes me happy to hear that.:) Once again, I have been blessed with a class of sweeties and I'm so proud of the progress they have made this year.
Kara is participating in the St. Jude half marathon this Saturday in Memphis so Kali and I are going down with her the night before. Marty has to leave Thursday morning and stay through Sunday at Nashville for guard duty. Kirk will come home and help hold the fort down.:)
In closing, I'll leave you with my thoughts that I posted on my Facebook status:

Every year I look at Christmas trees in the stores and of course I have seen lots of pics on Facebook and it seems that many of the trees seem to have a theme to them. I caught myself the other day saying "my tree is nothing fancy it's just simple with lights and ornaments that we have collected through the years." I thought about that and realized in some ways that's true because it's not fancy in the likes that you would ever see one like it in a store display but it represents our family and that makes it special. Marty and I married on December 18, 1993-that's right almost 20 years in the books. and one of my wedding showers was a Christmas decoration/ornament one so many of the ornaments date back to then and are even engraved with our wedding date. Each child has their own collection of ornaments from their first Christmas to all the ones we made at home or made at school through the years. There are ornaments from various countries and favorite vacation spots that we traveled to or Marty traveled to on his deployments/guard duties. There are ornaments commemorating the year Marty was away and spent Christmas in Kosovo. We have ornaments from Ft. Campbell representing the years he served there while we were dating and even some we got from the cruise ship on our honeymoon. Many of the ornaments have been given to me through the years by my students. There are ornaments for our dogs that we love and others we have loved and lost representing the joy they have brought us. There are ornaments from Ms. Elizabeth Radford because each year she would give the kids an ornament. Last, there is an ornament from the Christmas of 1985. We never dreamed that would be the last year that my daddy would spend Christmas here with us. So my tree does have a theme and it's called "our lives"-by no means fancy but definitely a wonderful and blessed life!!! I pray that as you decorate your tree this year that you too are reminded of the love of family, special memories from the past and the precious memories of the loved ones who are celebrating Christmas in heaven!!!!

Fun times at conference!!!

Ok so I feel a little rejuvenated-well, at least enough to get me through til Thanksgiving break.:) I had such a wonderful time at the Tennessee Kindergarten conference. I learned a lot and got some new ideas just hoping some time will magically appear in my daily schedule to be able to do some of the things I learned. The best part was visiting with old and new friends. On Sunday night, me, Deanna Jump, Kim Adsit, Elizabeth Hall and Greg Smedley went to Chuys for dinner.  If you don't know them, they are amazing teachers and have great blogs to follow. Chuys was yummy!!! We had a great visit and it was fun to visit and catch up on each other's lives since we met this summer in Vegas. Last night Kim and my new friend Wendy Gilstrap went to J. Alexander's for dinner. Always a favorite of mine to eat at and it made me think of my teacher friend Tracy who has been w me to the conference before and we always eat there.:)
I've said it once and I'll say it again SDE conferences are by far the best-their presenters are the best of the best. Every school should send their teachers to these conferences. It is where we learn those tips and tricks to pull out of our hats when all else fails. At a time when there is a lot of teacher burn out, this is a great way to rekindle the fire.
Looking forward to returning to my sweeties tomorrow. I'm sure they will meet me at the door with all the things that happened while I was gone.:)
The race is on now to get everything done that needs to be done before Thanksgiving break. Lots more thanksgiving activities to do and books to read!!!
Hope you are all having a great week!!!

I am tired.

I have no idea why I am writing this other than the fact that I blog as more of a journal for myself. I am tired. I am tired of assessments, I am tired of having to come up with new ideas all the time, I am tired of doing and doing and never feeling like its enough. I am tired of feeling like I do more testing than I do getting to know the students. I am tired of feeling that I can never get everything done at school or at home. I am tired of not having a solution to all the previous statements that make me so tired. I am tired!!! And the sad part is that I can tell my sweeties are tired too!!!! I am all about doing some new things but there comes a time when you just have to realize that We are all doing enough. It is time to let enough be enough. At least for now.
Ok well that didn't make me feel much better but at least I got it all out. On a happy note, even though there is a full moon coming and things got a little bit crazy today it warmed my heart to see the sweeties show kindness to a fellow student who was having a really rough day. They were giving this child hugs and encouraging words when they could tell things just weren't going too well for them.
Looking forward to playing with Elijah and Annalesa some this weekend. We haven't seen them in over a week so we have missed them. Marty is in Atlanta for some guard training. Kara has a 10 mile run on Saturday. Kirk is at titans game tonight and will be home late and then work some this weekend. Kali will have her BFF over so we are all looking forward to the weekend. On Sunday I will be heading to Franklin for Tn Kindergarten conference. Looking forward to dinner Sunday night with some special teacher friends.:) I am really excited to go and get any new ideas I can and I think The Lord has perfect timing as I need reviving and these conferences are pretty good at refueling me. Blessings to you and yours!!!!

Field trip and Fall Festival and Halloween activities... Oh My!!!

It has been crazy coming off this week! Lots of fun and lots of sugar!!! We started off the week with a trip to the Dixie to watch a play of The Ugly Duckling and The Tortoise and the Hare. It was PHENOMENAL and the students loved it!!!! Tuesday night was our annual Fall Festival at school. I worked the cake walk and let me tell you folks will dish out a dollar numerous times to win a cake.Lol!!! Thursday the students brought their costumes and we put them on before our fall parties. It was a lot of fun and a GREAT party! I have a precious group of sweeties and their families are the best!
I am very proud of the progress my class is making. They are doing great with their reading and math and most of all they are well behaved! Very proud of their hard work!!!
November is one of my favorite months at school. I really enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday and preparing for it! I always dress my class as Indians and we will have a traditional Thanksgiving feast in our classroom on our last day before Thanksgiving break. It is such a special time and allows all children to experience a traditional Thanksgiving meal.
I am so excited that I will be meeting up with several of the BESTEST teachers EVER 2 weeks from today for the Tennessee Kindergarten Teachers Conference in Franklin!!!! Some of us are meeting for dinner Sunday night and then I will attend classes on Monday and Tuesday. I can't wait to see them again since our last get together was in Las Vegas at the national conference in July.:) they all inspire me so very much and they are the nicest people you will ever meet!!!
All of my K's are doing well! Kirk has decided to make some changes next semester. He is transferring to the U of M campus at Lambuth after Christmas and changing his major to English. He will living on campus there in the same dorm I did as a student there! I am so excited that he is attending my alma mater. Even though it is now under University of Memphis, it still has a lot of the same feel as it did when I was there. We are very pleased with his decision.:)
Kara has been busy finishing up cross country meets and preparing for the St. Jude half marathon that she is running in December in Memphis. She is always doing something related to school activities
her babysitting jobs, and service projects. :)
Kali enjoyed trick or treating for Halloween and I imagine we are close to the end of her wanting to dress up and trick or treat. Sniff! Sniff! They sure do grow up fast.
This past weekend we kept Elijah and Annalesa since their mom as band director was busy with the band and state competition. Our band placed 3rd in the state!!! Woo hoo! Congrats!!! Our football team won as district champs Friday night. Hoping for another trip to state with them also! Go Mustangs!!!
I hope you are all enjoying a blessed beautiful fall! It has been beautiful here in good ole West Tennessee! Such beautiful colors on the leaves this year.
Let us not to forget to thank all the veterans in our life for their service to our country! Thanks to my hubby of almost 20 years for his service in the Army and his continued service in the Tennessee National Guard. :)  Blessings to you and yours!!!