The summer is going by too quickly!! I have got to get a scheduled time to blog at least once a week so that I can keep up with this thing! :o) Since my last 'blog' we have celebrated Father's Day, the 4th of July and made a trip to Chuck E. Cheese. Here are a few pictures from each...

Jessica's first time in the "big" bath tub to play in the bubbles!

Father's Day

She was too busy watching Lancelot to 'smile at the camera.

July 4th, Jessica entered her first pageant. The "Patriotic Pageant" in Inglis, FL. She is the 2009 Tiny Miss Firecracker

She is about to fall asleep here just before the winners are announced.

This is all the winners and runner-ups in each age group.

She was soooo tired after the pageant we didn't get any really good pictures. So, I dressed her back up on Sunday after church at momma and daddy's house. This is the cutest of the pictures because she is smiling, and her crown fell off.

Chuck E Cheese: I never dreamed that she would enjoy the little rides yet. She loved them!!

Making her 'car sounds'.

Chuck E Cheese himself

Jessica's 1st Watermelon Festival 6-6-09

She's my future Watermelon Queen!

She loved the parade! She clapped and waved and laughed. It was so sweet!!!

Okay, I am behind again! It is just so hectic at the end of the school year and I am soooo tired!! Anyway, Jessica has 3 teeth now. She is rolling ALLLLLLLL over the place. She is working on the crawling thing still! It is cute when she tries. :0) Well, we have decided to foreclose on our house. We tried to refinance and found out that we owe more than it is worth. We cannot even sell it for the payoff. So, my mom and dad are "buying" a new 2010 DWMH and are putting it across the road from them. We will pay the payments on it and later put it in our name. :o) I am still trying to get a transfer to Cheifland Elementary for next year. It would really save on gas!!

Jessica found John's foot very interesting. It was clean! :o)

Here are some pictures from the Mother/Daughter Luau Brunch at our church on Saturday. Ana managed to snap some very good pictures of Jessica! I had one made into an 8 x 10 for me and one for Momma for Mother's Day.

The silly program I have only corrected one of the 'red eyes', so she looks funny. :o)

We had a nice Mother's Day. We spent the day with momma and daddy. Saturday night John grilled/cooked dinner for us. It was Yum-O!! (Ribs, baked beans, corn on the cob and garlic bread)

Right side up this time!!

I love this dress! I had to get some pictures of it all flared out at the bottom. :o)

Jessica with her "Auntie Ambri" at the Evening of Excellence where Ana was officially named as the District Teacher of the Year!!!

I will have to post another one of these after I rotate them. I could not figure out how to do that on here. :o)

Wow! One month since my last blog. What can I say, it has been VERY hectic! I feel like I am drowning and don't know which way to turn for the life preserver! I have secured a summer job, that's great! However, I just found out that I have to take a 30 hour on-line class for it. I'm already taking one on-line class and one other class at school to finish my Reading Endorsement for the state. I don't know where I am going to fit in another class!!?? Trying to finish up the year is more hectic than ever since I am in third grade now. There is so much more to do than 5th grade!!! The stress of trying to sell the house on top of everything else finally got to me on Sunday. Our new choir director told me of a couple of songs he wanted to sing for last week. I knew the songs and can sing both of them by heart, parts and all. BUT I cannot play them. One in particular. When he asked to sing that one in practice on Sunday I looked at it and it seriously looked like Chinese writing! I could not play it and finally broke down in tears! That is not usually me, but with all of the other "stress" in my life, I could not deal with it. Through all of this I can still smile when I hold my baby girl, or my wonderful hubby!!!

Well, it's Sunday night. I think I have averaged blogging at least once a week in the last few weeks. Anyway, I just wanted to share how blessed I am! God has given me a wonderful husband, the most adorable little girl, the absolute best parents in the world and a great realm of friends and extended family. Tuesday morning I went to Lake City to a workshop. About 11:00 I received the most aweful news. A 29 year Williston native ran her SUV into the back of a stopped school bus. She died instanly, leaving behind a six month old baby girl in the back seat, unharmed. I did not know this family, but she impacted many people. Several of the teaches that I work with taught her in elementary or went to school with her. Her mom teaches at one of the other Williston schools. She volunteered at the high school and loved to watch her brother play baseball.

Needless to say, when I got to momma's to pick up Jessica, I just hugged and kissed and held her for a long time! I could not watch the news or talk about the accident without crying. I cannot imagine Jessica not remembering me if something were to happen to me. As I was putting her to bed and kissing her good night and telling her for the hundredth time "I love you!" I just cried! There was a little 6 month old baby girl not too far from us that no longer had a momma to put her to bed. Please keep this family in your prayers!

Thank you Jesus for all your many blessings to me and for safety each and every day for my family and friends!!

This is Alyssa. My Aunt Charlotte babysits her, and to her Alyssa tell it, she is Jessica's babysitter. She asks Aunt Charlotte almost every day to call Uncle Carl to se eif Jessica can come over to play. She is too cute!!

First St. Patrick's Day

I still love to see Tallahassee in the Spring time! I have never seen another city or area that has so many blookimg Azaleas, Wisteria and other flowers. It is just absolutely beautiful! Of course, I didn't take any pictures of those, I was driving and didn't stop. Oh well, another time. Anyway, I made the comment to Momma as we entered the Governor's Square Mall, "I actually have some money to spend, so I won't find anything that I need or want today." And sure enough, I didn't. But today, I did find a few things at the Oaks Mall. Back to the Tallahassee trip. We had lunch with Mark, Claramae, Paige, Stryder, and Calli Campbell. I had not seen them since our wedding. We had a wonderful time visiting with them!! They have a beautiful family!!!

Jessica had her picture taken with the Easter Bunny at the Governor's Square Mall. She was great!! She petted him and was not scared at all!!!

Today I found her Easter outfit at The Children's Place. It is a pink and white dress with matching hat and socks. It is too cute!! I can't wait to dress her in it all! I got all of the outfit for $20! John is not crazy about it because it is pink. He is not a fan of pink. Oh, well! I told him he would have to get used to it!!

I bought myself a cute shirt for 97 cents at JC Penny's. Whoever was marking the clearance items made a mistake, and I found it!!!

Jessica went for her 6 month ckeck up today and shots. Thank goodness she is through with shots until her 12 month appointment. Anyway, she is 15 pounds and 4 ounces and 26 inches tall! Doc said she was just perfect!

I just love this yellow dress!!! It is a Wal-Mart special! She looked so cute!!

This is Jessica wearing her Papa John's cowboy hat! We have a picture of John about 6 months old wearing his daddy's hat, and now we have one of Jessica! There is also one of Eli wearing John's cowboy hat.

Well, Jessica is a regular 'rolley polley' now. "Da da da" is screeched hundreds of times throughout the day. I cannot believe that she is six months old already! She goes for her 6 month check up on Monday. I am curious to hear what the doc sayd about her eating. He didn't want me to start her on cereal until two weeks ago. She started cereal at one month. Now she eats, applesauce, peaches, pears, squash, carrots, and was not too fond of green beans when we tried them. Except for the beans, the rest I mix in her cereal. She tried watermelon last night. :o) Just a little taste. She seemed to like it! Of course, she loves sweet tea. She gets a little taste every now and again. I am home today, so I decided to write a few lines. I still need to upload some pictures. John "threw his back out", so I had to take him to the doctor this morning. He got up today and could not hardly move. When we left the doc's office, he said that he felt much relief! Thank the Lord! Well, we've gotten two pieces of good news inthe last two days. First, a credit counseling comp. that I have been paying the last five years, ends payments next month! And it is only partial payment that I owe. Second, today we received our renewal for our auto insurance and we received a safe drive discount, so we will be saving about $30~ Every little bit helps!!! Well, I guess that is enough for now. Later!

Well, I will eventually get better are 'blogging' more frequently. Just had to share Jessica's latest. She now says "da da da", of course John is thrilled! I am still practicing "ma ma ma" with her. She is rolling over, both ways now. She is so cute when she is sleeping on her side. Yesterday we went out to see Chester while at Momma's. Daddy has a little stroller that he rolls her around the yard in. Well, we went up to Chester's pen he stretched as far as he could to get some "toe sugar" from her. I tried to turn the stroller to get a picture and he stretched again and gave her a lick on the cheek. She thought that was funny! Well, she and John are home now, so I got to run.

I have to add the "castle" pictures!

Street Parade/Dance: We are dancing with Baloo!

Well, Jessica made her first trip to Disney this past Saturday, my birthday. I got in for free and had another free ticket, so my parents and I went. John decided he'd rather wait until she was older. The weather was absolutely beautiful!!

This is the first float in theMove it! Shake it! Celebrate It! Street Parade When I saw Mickey come around the corner, I grabbed Jessica out of her stroller and held her up to see. Of course she just saw movement, bright colors and heard music, and I cried. I never thought that I would be taking my little one to Disney. It truly is the "Happiest Place on Earth".

Just before we went into Mickey's house Jessica was wide awake. We got inside where is it was kind of dark and cool, she drank her bottle and went to sleep. So, as you can see, she was asleep when we got in to see Mickey and Minne. As soon as we walked out the exit, the train whistle blew and she was wide awake again. :o) Oh well!! It was getting close to 5:00 when we left Mickey's tent and I knew Momma and Daddy were pooped, so we did not try to get in to see any of the other characters. We headed out for the car. We went to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner. It was not as good as I had remembered the last time I was there. I was a little disappointed.

We had an absolute wonderful time!! I look forward to taking her back with John when she is older! It was definitely worth the free ticket!

This was a special guest at our church Valentine's Dinner!

Oh my!! Has it really been a month since I have posted?? Yes, it has been very busy. We had a hog killing in January. My first! I could not watch as John shot the hog in the pen. I did watch as he cleaned it. One of them is now in our freezer! The sausage is delishous!! I can't wait to grill the ribs! This picture is just before the hogs were shot.

Jessica's first Valentine's Day was wonderful!! I was busy getting ready for a banquet at church. We had BBQ catered and decorated in a western theme. Our new preacher and his wife are also into the western decor! We had a nice time!! Here are a few pictures from her first Valentine's Day.

Momma's Girl

Jessica received her first flower form her Papa.

A Valentine from Momma and Daddy.

Daddy's Girl!!

Inauguration Jan. 20, 2009

Check out my 'live' shots of the new President. As part of 'history' class, we watched the Inauguration on t.v. Here is my 'Picture of the day', The Oath and speech. I didn't take this as a supporter of Obama, but as a Christain, God tells us to respect those in authority over us. Therefore, I must respect the position that he has acquired.

I quit!!

Today, after I dropped my students off for lunch, I told two of my friends at school, "I QUIT!" That is just how I felt. After I called John and could hear Jessica 'talking', I felt a little better. I shed a few tears, ate lunch and had a better afternoon. My students have been 'driving me nuts' for a week. Today was the last straw. They have misbehaved in PE for two weeks! That is really bad! The PE teacher hardly ever gets upset. Anyway, tomorrow I have to go to a Writer's workshop, boring!! Anyway, at least I get a three day break from the students. I know that sounds terrible.

I came home to play with Jessica for the afternoon. John didn't have to work today, so they were home when I got home. She is in bed already tonight. Well, this weekend will be interesting. We are killing hogs and making sausage on Saturday. Well, I 'have to babysit' so hopefully I will get off and not have to participate. I am afraid that if I participate, I will never eat pork again, and I really like pork. I will let you know how it all goes. :o)

Eli, Jessica and Daddy, Can you see them??

Jessica loves her "glow" Seahorse that she received from Aunt Mary for Christmas. It plays music with water sounds. I kind of like it myself!!

Just a picture of our 'house'! It could be for sale!

This past Saturday Jessica, my mom, mother-in-law and two ladies from church went to a Ladies Spectacular in Plant City, FL. The two and half hour drive turned into almost 5 hours!! I missed a turn because we were all talking. We finally got there and I was so aggrivated that I just wanted to turn around and come right back home. Well, needless to say I am so glad that I didn't go home. Melissa Brady sang and spoke in the morning. Her husband sings with the Booth Brothers. She was great! But the highlight was Dr. Brenda Robinson. I had never heard of her before. She sang with a group, her son, daughter-in-law ans husband, A New Desire. Well at lunch my mother-in-law, Kay, told me that she watches her on television all the time. She has a program called "A NEW DESIRE" on Dish Network and Direct TV. She was one of the best speaker's I have ever heard at a ladies meeting or conference. She gave every lady in attendance a gift at each 'speech'. So we left with two gifts from her. Since this was Jessica's first ladies meeting, we took a picture with her.

Well, I knew it would take me a while before I 'blogged' again. Anyway, I was thinking about what my next 'blog' would be. Today on my way home from the JOY Circle meeting, it hit me. Temple Baptist, Bible Baptist, Charity Baptist, Chiefland Baptist Church. Those are all of the names of my church. It started about 34 years ago as Temple, it was Bible most of my life and most recently Chiefland Baptist Church. I have attended this church my entire life. My parents are charter members. I was telling our ladies this morning at our JOY Circle meeting about the need for a new piano. The one we have has been there for almost 30 years. I will later post my dream for the new church piano. I am the church pianist by the way. Anyway, this is a HUGE part of my life and always has been. At the age of two I used to stack up the song books and sit on top of them so that I could see the preacher over the pews. I would hollar "AMEN PREACHER!" ever once and awhile. Now, my little Jessica will learn more about Jesus in the same church. I never thought I would see the day! I am so thankful for my church!! It has been through many "storms" in the past, but God has great plans for it, I am sure. Anyway, that is my thoughts for the day.

Here is a picture of all of us. Me, John, Jessie Lynn, 15, Eli, 8 and Jessica 3 minths. This was taken Christmas Day at our house. Eli is showing off his new Swiss Army knife he got for Christmas.

Here is a picture of the "World's Greatest" Grandparents!! This is my Mommma and Daddy. Daddy is my main babysitter during the week. He is doing a great job, and loves it!!! He says the key to a happy baby is one Hershey bar a day.

January 3, 2009

Well, I have been saying that I would start a blog when I got a faster internet. That happened during the summer and I still didn't start the blog. So, I figured that the new year was a good time to start! I am sure that with a 3 month old, I will have lots of things to 'post' this year. The title of my blog page come from a country song, "We're From the Country and We Like It That Way". This song, expecially the chorus, defines our life in a small town. Here are the words.

Artist: Tracy ByrdAlbum: KeepersTitle: I'm From The Country
(marty brown/richard young/stan webb)

Way back up in the country, back in the hills Down in the hollows where the folks are real Livin' with the crazzies and the old wildcats Sawed off shotguns and coonskin caps That's where i'm from and i'm proud to say I'm from the country and i like it that way.

Everybody knows everybody, everybody calls you friendYou don't need an invitation, kick off your shoes come on in Yeah, we know how to work and we know how to play We're from the country and we like it that way

All day long we work in the fields Then bring it on home to a home cooked mealWe love ya like sunday, treat ya like saturday night And when the bed gets full we can sleep in the hay (hey)We're from the country and we like it that way

Everybody knows everybody, everybody calls you friendYou don't need an invitation, kick off your shoes come on inYeah, we know how to work and we know how to play We're from the country and we like it that way Everybody knows everybody, everybody calls you friendYou don't need an invitation, kick off your shoes come on in Yeah, we know how to work and we know how to play We're from the country We're from the country We're from the country and we like it that way.