Mommy Dearest is 50!

In all of the craziness of the snow days, followed closely by Valentine's Day, and shortly after that being spring break - I forgot to blog about my mom's 50th birthday! 50 is quite the milestone. And my mom is SURE that God made it snow on her birthday as a present. =) I called her early on February 12th while on my way to school to tell her to look outside. I knew her view of the lake with snow all around must have been a pretty sight, and I wanted her to see it before cars started driving all over it and making it ugly. She screamed in the phone that it was "just for her birthday!" Haha. Her birthday was the next day, the 13th. The day before Valentine's Day. We celebrated backwards though - Casey & I celebrated V-day on the 13th and then we had a party for my mom on Sunday, the 14th when my grandma and uncle could come up. Here are some pictures from her partay!

Good times turning 50!

She got this card table from my Momma Sheila.

Mom has parties at her house and needed some fold-away seating. 

I got her Gilligan's Island on DVD - she's a sucker for shows like that, The Andy Griffith Show, I Love Lucy, and The Beverly Hillbillies. Haha!

I find it hilarious that all the cake said was "Wow 50" Hahahaha!

She gave us Valentine's Day gifts on her birthday=)

My Valentine!

Happy 50th Birthday Momma!

Here's to 50 more!!!!

Book Signing

A couple of months ago Lauren informed me that my favorite author, Francine Rivers, was going to be in Dallas! From the start I was ecstatic! This event went straight onto my calendar, and I have been looking forward to it for weeks! So, the Friday of spring break Lauren & I went to Barnes & Noble across from North Park to meet Francine Rivers and Beth Moore. Beth Moore being there was icing on the cake! She is a very neat and gracious lady. I like her most for that. Francine I like for her amazing books. My favorites are Redeeming Love and the 3 books of the Mark of the Lion series. The Mark of the Lion series deals with gladiators and a love story in ancient Rome. I read the first one while I was IN Rome, which was really neat, and now I have a special attachment to those books. 

Here are the pictures of our adventure - we were very excited and definitely "picture happy."

Beth is such a sweet lady. I told her that I had heard her talk at Passion in 2005 & 2006 and got to meet her briefly at one of the women's break out sessions there. She told me that she wrote her book, So Long, Insecurity for women my age and really hopes I enjoy it. I am sure I will. =)

When I met Francine I told her I am pretty sure I am her biggest fan. I was shaking like a leaf, so she may have believed me. =) I told her how I read her books in Rome, and I also got her to sign my copy of Redeeming Love even though the Barnes & Noble staff said that she was only allowed to sign her new book (they do that so that they make more money, of course). I had her sign both. =)

To read another great post about this book signing, go to my friend Lauren's Blog!

Hope you're having an excellent spring weekend!

Essay

I got a copy of my student's essay about me! You know, the one I posted about a while back where I got a rose and a certificate.

It was sweet and cracked me up at the same time! There were a few parts where I literally laughed out loud at some of the things he wrote - kids are so honest! If I didn't know exactly what he meant in some parts I don't know if I'd want my principal to read it! Haha! I'll put my comments in another color along the way.=)

BEST MANNERED TEACHER ESSAY

BY: JONATHAN HOCKLESS

The teacher I would like to nominate for the best mannered teacher award is my reading teacher Mrs. Coats. She is a 6^th grade Reading/Social Studies teacher at Smith Elementary School in Forney, Texas. Her classroom is a fun-filled, relaxing environment. It feels like home. She brings a lot of fun and love for teaching into the classroom. She is kind, patient, and she makes learning fun. Here are the reasons I am nominating her for this award.  (I was very proud of his writing in this paragraph especially!)

She is a very kind and she does not yell unless we are not behaving at all. (LOL!) She likes us to have fun while we are learning. She likes to read all kinds of books and she is an excellent teacher. She is not rude and she does not ignore us when we raise our hands. She does not wait to offer her help with our work if we don’t understand it. 

She takes her time to help us if we do not understand what she is teaching. She is also very patient with us if we are talking too much. She does not mind if we talk a little as long as we do not get too loud. Sometimes she does not even teach the lesson and she just talks with us. (I know EXACTLY what day he's talking about because this does not happen often. I liked that it meant a lot to him, though). When she does things where we have to take notes she knows that some of us are slow when we write so she writes the notes on the board so it does not take forever to teach the lesson. (teehee)

She also makes reading novels fun by picking ones that are exciting and not boring. (They think I'm awesome because I picked Number the Stars...they don't realize its on my book list...=) She is considerate about things like our grades and asks us if we want the whole class to hear them. (He means when grades are due...I will tell them their grade, but they can come to my desk if they don't want the whole class to hear it). She is also considerate about what she picks when we read novels. She also is kind when we talk a lot; she just gives us a warning before she gives us a conduct mark. (I'm not a push-over, I promise=) That is why Mrs. Coats is my best mannered teacher. (So cute!)

Isn't it funny? I love it! :)

Ski Trip

As most of you know from Facebook, we went on a ski trip over spring break! We took 34 kids and 7 adults on 3 vans! It was great fun, and I am proud to say that my skiing skills were very much improved! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip! Be prepared that some of them are so beautiful they almost look fake, but do not be deceived! They are real!=)

Hope you are having a fantastic week! I found out tonight that there are only 50 school days let until summer! Woo hoo!

There just aren't enough adjectives...

I so often times forget to count my blessings. Do you all do that? Or is it just me?

I complain about my day. I complain about my hair, my lack of clothing options, the fat role I've accumulated in recent years.

I have so many great things in my life. Sometimes I just need to write them down. This helps me to be thankful as I am commanded to be.

My thoughtful husband.
My loving animals.
My giving mom.
My sentimental dad.
My wonderful grandparents.
My selfless in-laws.
My super cute nephew.
My great and so-much-fun friends.
My mission-minded church.
My serving cg leaders.
My supportive co-workers.
My understanding bosses.
My sweet students.
My hard-working team.
My beautiful house.
My reliable car.
My full closet.
My tasty food.
My electronic gadgets.
My healthy body.

My most-excellent and imaginative Creator who gave me all of these things and more.

"Best-Mannered Teacher"

Me? Best-Mannered? {Insert mischievous grin here}

*Side note: Did you know I was voted most-mischievous in high school? Yep. I was. At first I wasn't sure why, but then my dear, sweet friends explained to me that I am most definitely mischievous. Always plotting, pranking, planning.

So, I find it interesting that I have been awarded with "best-mannered."

My husband laughed at me since he gets to here me burp all of the time...

Anyway, let me back up. About 2 weeks ago, I got a letter at school from the wife of the superintendent of Forney ISD saying that one of my students, who is in the National League of Junior Cotillions, had written an essay about me, nominating me for the award of "best-mannered teacher." I thought it was neat because this boy isn't even in my homeroom and therefore chose to write about me anyway!

So this past Friday night, Casey & I went to the Grand Spring Ball at the Hampton Inn in Mesquite. The ballroom was the same one we had our wedding reception in. Hadn't been there since then (December 2007). It was so cute seeing all the 6th-8th graders dressed up in fancy dresses and tuxedos. They danced the fox trot and the waltz, and all of the girls were taller than the boys. So funny. =)

Then after a few dances, they called out the students that had written essays about their teachers. There were 5 of us. The students (3 girls and 2 boys) gave their teacher a rose and a certificate before we walked out to take a picture. While we were taking our picture, they announced that my student won the grand prize for the best essay!! I was most excited to hear that! He made his writing teacher proud. =)

I did a short video of the kids dancing, but it won't upload on the blog and I'm frustrated with it! Grrr!

Check out this hilarious picture of my student and I in front of this hilarious prom-like backdrop!

Another neat thing happened to me on Friday! I got teacher of the month at school! I was so excited! I hadn't gotten this award before and felt so lucky to have gotten it in only my 2nd year of teaching! When they announced it over the intercom my students all cheered and clapped for me! They even made me a cute little "Congratulations" sign and hung it in my room. They are so sweet! =) That made for 2 awards in the same day! Yay! =)

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week. I can't believe it is March. I can't believe there's less than 3 months until summer break! Woohoo!!

Mousetrap!

This is really funny - you should watch!=)

It's the first day of the week and the first day of the month - a great opportunity to make a great, fresh start! Make it a good one!=)