Country Girl in the Big City

We have lived in some larger cities, Savannah and near Waco where I worked, but I haven't ever REALLY experience Austin. I'm down here reviewing questions for the Biology EOC and decided to go somewhere for something different for dinner. First, I had to get used to the driving and streets here. That wasn't bad. I knew I wanted to check out Whole Foods because I have heard so much about it from a friend of mine. Not really knowing what to expect I went it. OH MY!!! Talk about sensory OVERLOAD!!! If you have never been there, I highly suggest a trip. There are places to get prepared food (salads, olives, fruit, and many other things I couldn't identify). I wish I had my camera, but then I would be embarrassed because I looked totally stupid. There was a bakery for bread, one for cakes, and several hot food places (BBQ, noodles, general food). I can't even begin to describe it all. So, if you get a chance, GO!!

The fam...how are we? Everyone is good. Maxx, believe it or not, just turned a year old! My how the year has flown.







Win is doing well too. She has moments when she's jealous of Maxx, but most of the time she is good.

William is taking the summer off from school and REALLY helping me out. I'm taking classes this summer working toward my Master Science Teacher and then Masters in Natural Science. So I'm in Nacogdoches from 8-4 Monday - Friday. William has been staying with the kids when he's not working. I tell him Thank you all of the time, so I hope he realizes how much I appreciate his
help. I will finish my classes in two weeks and then I'm home! I'm ready for a break!

Other than being super busy, we are all doing well!
Here are a couple of random pictures of the kids.

Prom and other pictures

A couple of weeks ago Winter, Maxx, and I went to see my students at the prom. I dressed Winter up in a cute dress, took a few pictures before we left, and off we went. Win didn't want to talk to anyone while we were there, but she was so cute.


Maxx and one of my Seniors.


Winter and three of my seniors.




Both of these are from before we left. Isn't she cute???



Maxx has started to crawl and is pulling up some. I caught him "reading" a few magazines and books one night.




He also has a walker that he loves! It is funny because you can hear his feet thumping across the floor running to you.




Win coloring. She's actually doing better at staying in the lines. She's growing so quickly!



One day Winter and Maxx stayed home with William. Daddy introduced Maxx to a "Daddy Snack"; bread with butter on it. Now, when you sit next to him and eat toast, bread, any type of thing like that, he has a fit and wants some!


Everything is going well here. William finished the semester well and has already finished a summer class (which he made an A in!!) I think he's looking forward to only working for the summer.

I have some news, I'm going to school this summer! And I'm rather excited about it. SFA does a program for getting your certification as a Master Science Teacher. It is run by a grant program so, if your school will pay the fee, you don't have to pay. Anyway, I'm really excited!!

Pop and the kids

I took this picture in small groups this past Sunday night. The girls were getting a little loud so Dad got on the floor and was teaching them. It was so cute!

My Sweet Winter

Win has had her struggles with behavior. But last night at small groups, she made up for it! We were talking about Love and how God is love. Win was actually listening. She piped up and said (my dad was leading the discussion)"Pop, that is just like this song I was just singing!" and she started to sing; "This is my comandment that you love one another that your joy may be full!" This is a song that is on a Veggie Tales cd that we listen to regularly. So, I guess we are doing something right then! I know Win isn't perfect, but there are some times when I thank God that I have her!

Pictures and Stories

Long time no blog...I know. I do that a lot. So, I thought I would get everyone caught up on what is going on with the family.

William is doing well. He pulled B's in all but one class, but we aren't going to count that C. For some stupid reason the aviation department counts an 83 as a C. I think that is stupid! If he hasn't been mad enough about it, I will be mad for him! He worked hard in that class and there was A LOT of busy work so I think he deserves a B! Okay, enough of that! Since there was so much busy work and he decided he wasn't really interested in aviation, now William is a Mechanical Engineer major. He seems to be more happy this semester. It took him a while to get into the groove, as it does everyone, but he's getting used to it now. After a couple of Calculus classes he realized he might be in trouble. However, there is a wonderful man at church that has his PhD in math! That wasn't luck, that was God. So anyway, he says he's feeling better about it and is learning how to study at the same time. William changed jobs this week and is now working at Mazzios. I wish he didn't have to work and one day soon we will be able to make it with out his income. Letourneau is a job all of its own!!

For a while I was really concerned about Winter and her attitude. I know I can "cop a 'tude" at times, but it seemed constant. Everything we did it seemed that it wouldn't work. We started giving her an allowance and that seemed to help. She was doing okay for a few days and then would step back again. There have been many days where I wanted to send her back to God. There was something that happened over Christmas that I just realized I didn't blog about. This is the type of thing I have been talking about. We were at my grandmothers house and went to look at the Christmas lights in town. She had been decent that day so she and I went. Since she didn't get a nap, she was really cranky (not making excuses here, but she usually isn't THIS bad). She wouldn't listen and one thing led to another...finally off we marched to the van. She was crying because she knew what was coming and we kept marching. I kept talking to her about what was about to happen and finally she looked up at me and said "You can stop talking to me now!" I almost hit the ground! If it wasn't for the fact that she was in big trouble, I would have laughed. Anyway, she got a REALLY bad spanking for that. My cousin said later, to someone else who asked what happened, "well, she was really sweet on the way home!"
But, thank God!, we are on the upswing again. There was one day last week where she was the only one at Mama's who listened and cleaned the toys up. I jumped all over that! I told her how proud I was and how great that was and just went on and on with her. Since then, she has been doing so well! She has her bad times, but we always do right?? She's so good with Maxx and really tries to help with him. Sometimes her "helping" is more of a hindrance, but we work on it. I can deal with those types of things. One more Winter story that has just come to mind....One morning at about 5 am Win comes in and says her tummy hurts. I get her to lie down with me but she is wiggling too much. I sent her back to her room and about 10 minutes later, she's back telling me her tummy is still hurting. So I tell her to go to the restroom. (If you don't like gross stories, stop reading!!) About 15-20 minutes later Win comes in as I'm finally getting out of bed, and says "Mom, my poop won't go down the potty!" As I'm going into her bathroom she decides to say "And there is a little water leaking out" LITTLE???!?! Did she say little?!?!? Okay, so her view of little is the ENTIRE BATHROOM FLOOR COVERED with water!!! I wasn't mad. What could I do but clean up the "little" bit of water!!! I am STILL laughing about that and it was at least three weeks ago!!


Win and her Christmas kitchen.

Maxx, as you can tell from the pictures below, is growing like a weed! He's such a sweet boy. At first, and I love you Maxx so don't be upset with Mommy for this, I was upset that he wasn't a girl. Looking back now, I can't believe I wanted him to be a girl! I was so scared because I didn't know what to do with a boy. He's so sweet! We were really worried that Maxx wouldn't talk because of Win and the fact that she is NEVER lost for words. I think we were worried for no reason. Once he got the tubes in his ears on 1-31, he has been talking all the time. He will yell DaDa, sometimes, when he's really mad and wants me, he will say MomMom, but not much. I think when it sounds like he says BaBa, he's saying MaMa. You have to think that for about 2-3 months of his life he couldn't really hear that well. He always had fluid on his ears and was hearing things in a distorted way. Well, that is what I tell myself anyway!! A Maxx story for you. This one happened today. (Again, if you can't stand nasty stuff, move on to the next section!!) Maxx was playing in his room. Win went to talk to him. She comes into the kitchen and yells, "MOM I got Maxx poop on my pants." I asked her if she was sure and she said it was. SO I went to check. It was on the floor, ALL up his back, in the legs of his pants, and there was STILL some in the diaper. WOW!! He already poops like a man!! Maxx now has 5 teeth and more coming in. He never was a big fan of baby food and will eat anything you give him. I love it when I pick them up from Mama's. He gets so excited and sometimes will cry if I don't get to him quick enough!!








What did I ever do with out Win and Maxx?!?




As for me, William, Winter, and Maxx, well and school too, are all consuming. I still enjoy teaching in Overton. I work, I get the kids, and I come home. There was a curriculum job open near by, but I didn't get it. I know God is looking out for me and if there is something one day, I will get it. I'm not going to stress about it. It looks like I will be teaching AP Biology next year. That will be a challenge, but I'm looking forward to it. I have been told that we are getting another teacher next year so I'm excited about that too.

So that is really all that is going on with our family. Life has been a blur lately! I guess that is why I haven't blogged much!!

Win or Maxx?

Ignore the clothes and try to tell the difference. On is Win and one is Maxx. They were taken when they were about the same age. WOW!! They are brother and sister!!

Christmas Pictures

William and I were talking at the table one night and got this video of Maxx. It is quite funny!Here are some pictures from the various Christmas parties.

I have a funny video to put on here but it wouldn't work. I will keep working on it.

Jewelry Website

Mom and I have started selling jewelry and finally got a website up. Check it out! We can do custom stuff if you like. I have done birthstone necklaces, watches, and can do many other things. If you need a good Christmas or Birthday present, let me know!

www.meandher.us

Singing Sister/Halloween/"Gun Totin" Win

It has been an interesting month. All is going well. Maxx is REALLY growing fast and eating a lot! Win is getting better about her attitude, I guess that is partly because I am too!! For Halloween, Win was a green M&M and Maxx was a pumpkin for a little while. He was laying down at Trunk or Treat and couldn't sit up well because the suit was too tight! It got hot so I had to take it off of him. Yes, that is her cleaning the toilet and washing the dishes! She LOVES it...really she does! She asks to clean the toilet!!! Gun Totin Win...do I need to say more?

(And one week later........) All is still going well. I tried to get these pictures up last week some time but they wouldn't load. So, I'm just now getting to it again!! Maxx had the Chicken Pox scare on Friday so we went to the doc. He is TWENTY pounds!!! He better get taller!! Pray for Maxx. He has an appointment with a urologist this week. I won't go into why because when he's older he will be mad at me!! (appointment went fine. Can't do anything about it for another year so we wait and see for now!)

Recent pictures and update on us

I got a note from a friend of mine the other day reminding me that I haven't put pictures on my blog in a while. :) No excuses really. I told my sister this morning that I don't get on the computer much at home. Too much other stuff to do! So, since the mower wouldn't work this morning and I'm not mowing, I guess I will get some pictures uploaded and give everyone and update on us. I tried to get this done last night but I kept getting kicked off the Internet. It was frustrating and I said oh well! I later realized that Win was knocking the modem over behind her bed.

Win is doing better at school now. It seems that it took her a few weeks to get used to everything. I really think the sassyness that came right after school started was because she thought I was leaving her and was sad. When we drive to school and other places she is always asking how to spell something. She knows a few words now and is always interested in how to spell big words. I have to be careful though because I might spell the word wrong!!



Winter playing in her room.


William got the guitar that we got with the car out for Win to play. She seemed to like it and is always asking to play! Hey, I'm glad she likes music!!


Winter made the "Neck-A-lace" she's wearing. She's rather proud of it!!


Maxx is growing like a weed as you can tell from the pictures. I had to take him to the doctor this week. Mama (where they stay) called me because he had a rash all over the right side of his face. The doc said that he had some respiratory issues...bronchitis is what I understood from him. He's on an antibiotic and some other stuff. I sure hope he gets better soon! I didn't realize he was that sick. He was always laughing and cooing and stuff. He was stopped up and his eye was running but the nurse on the phone said it was probably a clogged tear duct. Anyway, he will get better.


This one cracked me up because his eyes are crossed and he's trying to look at the toy! Funny Maxx!!
Speaking of Maxx....I was outside talking to William while he was changing the oil in the truck. He made a movement with his head and it was just like Maxx...well I guess Maxx is just like William!



Check out the fauxhawk!! :) (Inspired by a student of mine)


Sweet sleeping Maxx...folding his hands like he's praying!



Win and Maxx...she actually likes him...right now anyway!


William is doing okay in school. AT first it was a big adjustment to be able to do his homework and work too. There are some days when there is a lot to get done in the short time he has so I have helped him some. He will get better as the semester goes by! He told me this morning that mid terms are in two weeks! WOW!! That seems fast!!
These last two pictures are my new favorites!!

"Blast from the Past" day

A couple of weeks ago was homecoming at Overton. (The week after the hurricane to be exact.) Anyway, one of the days was blast from the past day. I dressed up...see the picture below. Here is the sad part....my students said I looked great! lol They said you need to wear your hair like that more often! I think they mean I need to wear it down. At least that is how I'm going to take it anyway! So, I have decided to get a hair cut. (I realized that I have had the same hair style for about 10-15 years!!) The hair style I'm going for is below too. I'm strange I know! I was watching an episode of What Not to Wear and said I want that hair! Yes, I took a picture of the TV! I haven't gotten it yet, but I will soon!! Let me know what you think!

Maxx is 2 months

Here are some pictures of Maxx. He's doing well and growing. Winter is a good big sister and helps a lot. Enjoy the pictures.

Spelling Lessons from Winter

Winter....she is something else! We talk a lot about how to spell things, dog, cat, fish, and so on. Win and I were walking into Wal-Mart the other day and she said "You spell Wal-Mart W A L star M A R T" We had talked about the walmart sign and what letters were there and so on so I guess that is what prompted her to spell Wal-Mart. How funny that she would say "Star" in the middle. She saw it there, so I guess that is how it should be spelled!!

Maxx at 5 to 6 Weeks

Here are some recent pictures of Maxx. I can't belive he's 6 weeks already! He is growing fast and Winter seems to enjoy having him around. He will look for the voices he knows, and seems to listen to his siter. It is cute when she's talking and he's looking at her. Anyway, just thought I would share these!

Pictures of Maxx

Here are some pictures of Maxx. The ones where he's in the blue...we were at mom's and put him in a basket! Enjoy!