'Cuz that's how I roll..

I don't know what happened to my post but this past Friday (12-18-09) Little Girl rolled over for the first time, of her own power, from back to front. I am so proud of little miss priss. Poor girl hasn't been on the floor much because of her crazy/energetic big brother that has a tendency to ride his toys through the house at top speed without paying a lot of attention. I started working with her in the last week or so by laying on the floor with her and rolling her over, then back, then over again because I knew she could, she just hadn't thought about it yet. I am so proud of my little Maddi! Give her a big round of applause, Ladies and Gentlemen.. =)

Long trip

So, this past Wednesday a whirl-wind of activity started here in my neck of the woods. On Monday my Grandma found out that her brother who lived in Florida had passed away. Her other sibling, who had lived in Oregon, had passed away around 3 years ago and she didn't go to the memorial service so she really wanted to go to this funeral. My dad was supposed to take her but because of circumstances with my half-sisters and their mother he wasn't able to so about 5 hours before they were supposed to hit the road I found out that I was taking her.

I began to frantically pack for myself and Maddi. We had decided that she would go with me and Wyatt would stay home with Jeremy since he doesn't like to ride in the car much and she still stays where I put her. I tried to talk her into flying but she refused to get on a plane so we had around a 14-16 hour drive depending on traffic. So I loaded up myself and Maddi, hoping I hadn't forgotten anything after packing so quickly (which of course I DID forget things), picked up my grandma and headed to the store to get some apples to take with us. Her brother and his wife had always came here to where we live to attend the Apple Festival and to take home some of the apples from the orchard here.

Then, we got on the road at around 4:30pm. We drove a few hours and stopped around Charleston, Wv and ate at a Cracker Barrel and got back on the road until a little after midnight. We stopped in Rock Hill, South Carolina at a really nice Hampton Inn and settled in for the night. Back up at 6 in the morning and back on the road by 8 after enjoying their very yummy continental breakfast.

We drove the rest of the way and arrived in Homosassa Springs at 4:20pm Thursday. The viewing was at 5pm and afterwards we went back to the house and ate dinner with the family. The funeral was the next morning at 10:30 am. I didn't attend the funeral since I wanted to get some rest so that we could drive further that night to head home but my grandma said it was a beautiful service and he was buried at the Florida National Cemetary (Think Arlington and white crosses). He had been in the Army and fought in the Korean War.

We were back on the road after the dinner at the church at around 3:30pm and drove all the way to 1:00am and about an hour past Rock Hill, SC. We stopped for the night in North Carolina and drove the rest of the way and I pulled into my driveway at 2:00pm on saturday.

It was a LONG trip and we were driving so much and I was sooo glad to get home. We ran into a TON of snow in Virginia and West Virginia and when I stopped for gas in West Virginia I had an inch of ice on my front grill. I went in to get gas and when I came back out an older gentleman was cleaning off my grill with one of the windshield cleaners. He said it could have over heated my car and I am really glad he was looking out for me because I was so tired I don't know if I would have thought to do it.

Madelinn was such an excellent little traveler! She spent most of her time in the back cooing, talking, kicking her feet, sleeping and playing with her giraffe and baby doll. She had a few 15 or so minute crying jags when she would get tired but other than that she was amazing. And even though she spent most of her day sleeping in the car she would still settle in and sleep after her bottle in the hotel and sleep until we got up in the morning. I was so glad that she was such a good little girl.

On a side note, I don't ever want to make that drive again in such a short period of time. I was so sick of being in the car I haven't left the house since getting home!

Yuck

I saw my first snow flakes this morning. I. do. not. like. snow! We have all of these big plans of moving south to never (or rarely ever) see snow again but these plans don't help me avoid snow until I have finished school, we sell the house, and decide for sure where we are moving! Sigh. Luckily there was no accumulation and it quit after about an hour but still.

I boycott winter.

Thankful

Just a quick post. I just realized I missed our Wyatt's 20 month and Maddi's 4 month post AGAIN (I should just give up! LOL) so I will do that tomorrow.

But! I am so SO thankful for my amazing, loving husband, my beautiful, loving, smiling children, my great family, having a roof over our head, and everything we need. Maybe not everything we WANT all the time but always everything we need. I am so thankful for what I have been blessed with and it is something that I am aware of every day!

H is for Honor

I taught a lesson to fifth graders this week about Veteran's Day and the origins, that it used to be Armistice Day when a cease fire was declared on the western front during WWI , and over the 2 days I taught I read two really good books I wanted to share.

The first is H is for Honor: A Military Family Alphabet. It is such an excellent book to read as it really helps put more detail to the topic for kids who may not be familiar with the topic. I also plan on sending this to the children of a couple of Jeremy's friends for Christmas.

The second is America's White Table. I had never heard of the setting of one of these little tables until I read this book so I fully intend on having one set in my classroom next year at this time. At the end of the book the little girl draws a picture to put on the table so I had each student draw one and then we put them in envelopes and mailed it to the local VFW and AMVETS.

And looking for these books on Amazon to put links up I found another that I plan on buying to have in my "little bag of tricks." It is The Wall and it is about the Vietnam War Memorial.

Again, I want to thank every veteran and service member out there. It is an amazing sacrafice and I am so very grateful for it!

Jump around! Jump up Jump up and get down!

Goofy title, I know, but Wyatt has been working on a new skill lately. He has been wanting to jump so badly and will take off running and throw one of his feet up in the air in front of him. As of yesterday, while watching Dora where she was apparently teaching the Spanish word for jump, he got a little closer to mastery. He squats WAYYY down to the point that his bottom is almost touching the floor and then catapults himself upwards. It is SOOO funny to watch and he is actually getting both feet off the ground about an inch. He still does the funny throw-one-foot-up thing if he tries to jump from a standing position.

On a side note, I don't know if I will get a chance to post tomorrow but I just wanted to say Thank You to all of those veterans, including my hubby, for serving our country! (Along with all of those now serving!) I am so proud of my husband. He has some incredible scars, physical and otherwise, from the time he spent overseas and in service and I am so grateful for him.

Halloween!

First off, I LOVE HALLOWEEN! Actually, I love pretty much every holiday but Halloween is in a close running with Christmas for my favorite holiday. I have been SO excited to get the kids in their costumes and take them trick-or-treating with my half sisters who are 11 this year. Wyatt was a cowboy and Maddi was a cow and they were just TOO cute! Maddi had a bit of a stuffy nose so we went ahead and dropped her off at G.G's (my grandma) house while we took Wyatt up town. She didn't get her costume on until I went to pick her up but I just couldn't resist.

First thing in the morning we got them dressed in their cute Halloween shirts G.G got them.

Wyatt just had to check out Stan the Steer that Jeremy and I brought back from Texas long before I was pregnant with the dear boy! He likes to grab our hand, drag us over to the couch and then he climbs up, reaches up his little hand, and says "Stan!" He loves to "pet" him.

Wyatt in his costume riding his horse.

My Little Cowboy!

Trick-or-treating with Mommy and the Twins.

Aren't they the cutest!
My little Calf!

The tail was just too much!

We had the best time. Wyatt was LOVING the experience. None of the costumes scared him, thankfully! He actually saw a guy dressed like a werewolf with a big furry mask and said "Wolf, Ow Ow OOOOWWW!" We took his wagon and then switched him up between walking, riding, and being carried to keep him from being bored. I actually got him to say "trick-or-treat" a couple of times though it sounded more like "Tick-or-teet" and by the end he was reaching for his bucket and a hand to walk up to houses. He is such a sweetie!

Madelinn was a very good girl at G.G's house and was all smiles when she got into her cow costume. I already can't wait until next year! I have to dress them like I want until they start getting their own ideas! =)