Pulling at my Heart Strings

I have gone back and forth on if I wanted to post anything about this but couldn't come up with the right words to express how sick it made me feel. After thinking about it for a few days I really don't care what words I use to express how I am feeling I am just going to get it out. So this is going to be a very wordy and LONG post so if you don't really care then that red X at the top right is for you. So here goes... Let me first say that there are many similarities between myself and the person that this horrible thing happened to. 1: We came from the same High School and Transferred to the Same school. The difference I transferred Freshman year and still didn't fit in after 4 years. This person transferred about a month ago their senior year. SO here it goes...

My mom who is a High School Senior Teacher at my old High School had a new student transfer in from the same High School that I transferred from. When my mom told me this I don't know why I got really excited. I have never met this kid, I don't even know their name... All I know is that they came from my HOME school and transferred to the School that I actually graduated from. Well this student is deaf and wears two hearing aids. My mom says that this student is very bright and smart and is a very very sweet kid. They were never wanting any special treatment because they came in the middle of the nine weeks and would have been behind on all the work. They were going to do all the work with no extra time, that's how dedicated this student was to fitting in right away. Well my mom had mentioned that this student hadn't been to class in a while and was going to call their counselor to double check to make sure everything was OK. On the same day that my mom was going to ask about this student their counselor came up to my mom with a withdrawal form for this student. My mom said, "Oh no, So and So withdrew? That's sad, they were such a sweet kid. Is everything alright?" This is what my mom was told by the counselor.
                             NO. The student was going off campus with two other students under the rouse that they were all going to smoke some pot. So they all went off campus to some woods (there is a park not to far from the school). When they got to the park the two kids decided that they were going to beat the SHIT out of this student with a CROWBAR!!!!

They really did a number on this poor defenseless CHILD. (I am crying just typing it here) Granted it was probably not a smart choice to leave school and go smoke pot but when you are new to a school that has such life long clicks, and you are trying to fit in and these people approach you and act like they are going to befriend you then beat the living shit out of you. WTF!!! Well needless to say the two baby boys that did this to the other student are no longer at the school, they were expelled completely, if you ask me they should be rotting in prison for a hate crime. OH did I mention the only reason they did this was to pick on the DEAF kid?!?!?!? Keep in mind that he spoke almost perfectly, there were only a few words that you could really tell he was deaf, he also wore two hearing aids. This student's mom didn't feel that he was safe at that school any more so she withdrew him and transferred him back to the school that he came from.

I am for the first time ever in almost 8 years since I graduated High School completely ashamed to say that I graduated from Churchill High School. I know first hand how the kids there bully you around, won't invite you into their clicks, look at you like you are a walking plague, and no matter how long you are there and what activities you are involved in the "popular" kids still won't accept you into their little group of people. From the day I transferred I only had a few friends, I wouldn't have traded them for anything, I would have liked to expand my circle of friends to the other girls that I cheered with for Four years. Every year when tryouts came around I had to stay away from all the other girls (accept my true friends) because they would try to get into my head and tell me I wasn't good enough to make the team again, or that they hoped I'd fall and break something, or that I didn't deserve to be on the team because I wasn't a true Churchill person. WTF? What is a true Churchill person? I understand that you grew up with all the same people for years but did it never occur to you that being a nice person to new people will help you grow as a person?? Anyway this is not about me...

I can relate to the hatred that some of the students expressed to anyone that was NEW... Although I never got beaten up or anything I know what it was like to be bullied for being "different" at Churchill.

I hope that if you are reading this you understand what HATE CRIMES are going on right here in our own little area. We need to BUMP up the efforts to help kids see that the 4 years they spend at a high school they are still nobodies... When they get out into the real world or go off to college NO ONE is going to GIVE A RATS ASS if you were in the popular group at your high school. And when you graduate from College NO ONE IS GOING TO GIVE A RATS ASS who you were in College either (unless you are a BAD ASS football player). When I graduated from High school I wanted to get as far away from everyone I knew at that school (accept for my few friends and my now husband), granted we have lost touch of a few people along the way because of where our lives have taken us but some of us are starting to find each other again. Now here I am back in the same area Teaching Special Ed to "Different" students, some of which I hope never get picked on for being a little different. I am also going back to school to get my masters degree in Special ED because I want to grow in my future and help more and more kids.

I truly don't understand how there can be that much hatred in a person at such a young age to think oh lets lure this deaf kid out to the woods and beat him with a CROWBAR!!!! What has this world come to when 17/18 year old kids are almost killing other kids their same age?? This area that the school is in is NOT know to have Gangs or anything like that, it's in a nice part of town, granted not everyone there has rich parents but no one is joining gangs to keep "safe" from a rival gang in the area. It was just two stupid kids being mean to another helpless child!!!

I don't know what else to say about any of this, Just that I am still sick to my stomach about what happened to this poor kid. I want to go and find this kid and tell them I am truly sorry for everything that has happened to them and I love them (yes love them; without even knowing who they are) I understand the need to fit in and hang out with other kids who you think are your friends, not to have people talk behind your backs and beat you up both physically and emotionally.

To the students who did the beating... I hope that you get the same treatment wherever you go in life. I hope that you are sitting in a prison being some mans slave and never getting a break from the HATE CRIME that you two committed!!!

I'm Going Back

Well I have officially applied to Grad school!!! I have been talking about wanting to do it for a little bit but could never decide what I wanted my masters in. I wanted it to be something that I could use later on in my teaching career. I didn't want a pointless masters degree just to say that I had one. So after some consideration and hard time sitting in front of my computer at school looking at 25 different options I decided that I would go back to UTSA and get my masters in Special Education. With that being said I have also applied for different grants and scholarships to help me get thru the two or three years that it will take me to obtain my masters. I am excited and nervous at the same time. I really hope that I get accepted, I don't see why I wouldn't but the thought still crosses my mind. I am also nervous about being able to keep up with all the readings and classwork because I will have a two and a half year old by then. I applied to start in the Fall of 2012, just because I didn't think I would be ready to start in Jan/Feb. Who knows if I hear back soon I might start in the summer of  '12. My "sister" is getting her masters in counseling and it really hit me that I probably didn't want to stay the same and not be able to move up in my career. Also if I start next year or the following year I won't have to take the GRE because my GPA was high enough and it was within the 5 year limits. Jack is very supportive of me right now with wanting to continue my education and supports me in what I am doing. Hopefully he will continue to support me when I tell him I need him to watch Jackson because I have to get my paper finished or I have to get stuff done for my classroom. I am sure that he will help me out as much as he can, since he owns his own business he has a little more flexibility in how his schedule is set but it is also hard once it is set to change it because of his clients. We will manage like everyone else who has gone thru with this process. Just thought I'd share with you.

My Early Christmas

Jack and I celebrated our 2nd Wedding Anniversary the weekend after Thanksgiving this year. We went and stayed at a hotel in a nice area of San Antonio, The Quarry. We had a wonderful weekend together just the two of us, no little one (whom I missed even though we were maybe 20 minutes away from him), we had a nice spa trip!! Well while we were trying to waste some time before our Spa trip we were driving around looking at all the shops in The Quarry. Well I have been wanting a digital SLR camera for about 2 years now and because of the cost have not really pushed to get one. Well now when people are asking me what I want for Christmas I have been telling them "Don't worry about getting me anything, I'm good" because I really have only wanted this camera for a while. Well my Husband knows how I feel about my cameras so we went into this shop Wolf Camera just to look and get an idea of prices and camera brands. I have looked at Cannon and Nikon for as long as I can remember and don't really care which one I was gifted with because they are both really good brands and cameras. So anyway we went into this shop because Jack has seen a commercial for a new Sony camera that was about the size of a small digital camera but had the adjustable lenses (like I wanted). We were talking to this really nice salesman about all the different features and qualities that this perticiular camera had. In talking to the salesman I mentioned that I really wanted a bigger Digital SLR camera becasue I was oldschool and really liked looking thru the eyepiece and zooming in and all that silly stuff that digital cameras do for you now. I also told him that brand names meant nothing to me because they were all good and were all competing with each other to stay on top so they were all good in my eyes. So he intoduced us to this little baby.

The Sony Alpha. I played around with it for about 10 minutes in the store and fell in love!!! I loved the fact that it had a live view screen and a sensor that when you put your eye up to the eye piece the screen automatically switches so that you can see all your options in the eye piece!!! So after playing with it for a little bit and talking about prices and all the other things that I would need, we decided to leave and talk aobut it. We are sitting in the truck talking it over and looking on our phones to see if there was a better price at another store that we could go to at a later time. So as we are sitting in the truck talking about it and deciding that this store really did have the best deal, we would be getting free photography classes as well as one-on-one classes about my specific camera that we could both go to. So we see the salesman leaving for his lunch and Jack jumps out of the truck to stop and ask how long he would be so that we could come back and deal with him. This poor man postpones his lunch so that he can go back into the store and help us get everything that we would need for my camera. So on top of the camera we got a camera bag, a memory card, extra warranty, photography classes as a two for one deal, and an extra telascopic lens for distance. 

I wish that I had a picture of my actual camera but taking that picture is a bit hard in my mind... I'll figure out something and post it here. So I have used the camera several times since we got it and am loving it more and more every day. I love playing around with the different settings and taking pictures of Jackson. I will post some pictures soon that I took with my new camera.

Sorry this was so long, but I feel like I haven't really posted anything in a long time. (Not that anyone is reading this anyway).

Better Late than Never

So I finally was able to upload the pictures from my camera onto my computer. So I thought I'd share some pictures from Halloween Weekend!! Jackson had three different parties to go to that weekend. Unfortunatly I was unable to get pictures from the 1st one where he was a Western Cowboy with his Chaps and Cowboy hat. The chaps were made my his Great Uncle on Jack's side for his 1st birthday but they will fit him for a few more years. The second night was Trick or Treat in the park where he was a COW!!!! Then on Sunday he went to that Air Show with my dad at the Air Force Base not too far from our house (there are several very close to where we live). Jackson is in LOVE with Planes, when he is playing outside and one flies over our house he will point up into the air and say "plane, plane". It is really cute!!! Did I ever mention that one of my favorite things in the world is when you are driving down the road and a plane is about to land at the airport and it flies right over your car... that is probably my favorite thing in the world, it probably comes from growing up on an Air Force Base very close to the landing strip. I will always remember when we would get calls from the tower asking if we knew where our dogs were, we would always say no do you... of course they had gotten out and were chasing birds on the landing strip so that none of the planes could land... It was funny to me but sort of embarassing for my Dad... Anywho... Then on Halloween Jackson went down to my Grandma's house for a Halloween party with all of my cousins, his costume was a COW-BOY, he wore his cow costume then wore his chaps and cowboy hat and boots over the Cow costume!!! He was adorable!!!!!

Just some random thoughts

Now I'm sure no one is ready my blog because lets face it... I'm not that interesting and don't really have that many friends and the ones I do have I just talk to in person and they don't need to read my blog... Also half of the stuff I would want to write on my blog would break confidentiality codes of all kinds becasue of my job. So it really is pretty boring. Also I suck at putting pictures on here so who really wants to sit in front of a computer and read the boring nonsense that I have to type out here.
So today, since I haven't really been doing very well at blogging anyway. I thought I'd share a few random thoughts that I have been thinking about, and maybe some stuff that I am looking forward to in the future.

So one thing that is on my mind right now is how annoyed I am at both of my computers and camera. I have tried several different ways to upload my pictures from Halloween from my camera onto both my Mac laptop and my desktop here at school. I have tried to plug my camera directly into the computers, I borrowed a friends jump drive that you just pop the memory card into and it reads the pictures off of it. This methond has worked on my computers before, however today when I really want to get them onto my computer to start to do different projects with them both ways decide NOT TO WORK!!! BOO.

It's finally Friday here at school, these past two weeks have been going by sssssoooooooooo ssssllllllooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww... It feels like the longest two weeks ever, and it's not just me other teachers are saying the same things... not sure if its the weather change or just because we are on the countdown for Thanksgiving and then Christmas breaks. Not that any of us are counting but we are also counting down until summer (only on really bad days of course). This year has been going alright. If you don't mind have sick students who in turn get you sick, but I don't want to use my days when I am actually sick, when I stay home I want to either spend time with Jack and Jackson or get errands done that I need an extra day to do them. I don't want to take a day off and sleep to get better. I would rather be able to do something productive with my time off. I am also wanting to try and save up my days so that they roll over for next year so that I have even more days next year. Doubt that will happen but its always nice to dream about not having to be out for one thing or another.

Something else I have been thinking about is going back and getting my masters. The only problem is that I really don't know what I want to get my masters in. So I don't want to start going for one thing, pay all that money, then when I finish in a few years. sit back and wonder why did I just waste all that time and money and I really don't want to be a ... (fill in the blank). Some suggestions from other teachers are get your masters in something else (anything) and then go back and get your principal certificate later if that's really what you want to do. My thinking on that is yes that makes sense but don't you have to pay more money to go back again and get the principal ship thing.... SO if I think I want to be an administrator some day why not just go and get your masters in something like Curriculum and Instruction with your principalship attached.... another question is where do I want to go to get my masters... there are so many choices right here in the San Antonio, New Braufels, Seguin, San Marcos area to choose from. Then the questions pops into my head where are we going to be living in a few years, that will help me determine which school I choose. If we are moving out of the Bulverde/San Antonio area then I really don't want to go to a school that is close to me NOW, because when we move that will be an extra two hours or so that I would have to drive to and from school each time I had class. NO Bueno!!! So then the questions start coming back to do I really want my masters to do something with or do I just want it because my mom has one and I just think that it sounds cool to say, "Oh yes I do have my masters" la de da. Who knows, these are just some of the convos that go on in my head every day when I have nothing else to think about... or i'm just really bored!!

Another thought is we need to start really saving for our downpayment on our land that we are going to start looking for probably next summer when we have time and are not in school and are a little less stressed about all the things that I have to get done during the day, that I don't want to take home and work on because I want home to be family time not mommy can't play she has to do school work... Let me tell you I have probably taken the same few things back and forth from school to home back to school and it has never left my bag... I will do it when I get to school the next morning. I always think oh when Jackson goes down for the night I'll stay up a little bit longer and will get some work done... NOPE NEVER HAPPENS!!!! Not only does Jackson decide that he doesn't want to go to bed until 9:30 everynight he decides that he wants to play and play and play until Mommy finally puts her foot down and says "It's time to go night night". Usually the only reaso he is ready for bed is because Mommy is super tired and takes him up and lays him down. Not by his choice, but he does fall asleep a few minutes after I put him in his bed. Sweet baby!!! I can't believe that on Saturday he is going to be 20 months old!!! Thats only 4 months away from being 2!!! Holy Cow I can't have a two year old already!!!! It really does feel like just yesterday he was born... time really does fly. It's been amazing watching him grow so quickly though. He learns something new everyday, he watches how you do something and then will mimic the exact same thing that you just did. It is the cutest thing. For example, last night he was opening the drawers of an old dresser and I walked up and closed it with my shin, so what does Jackson do? He walks over to the drawer; opens it back up and lifts his little leg up and tries to close it with his shin, just like Mommy!!! He knows how to open all the doors in our house, and if they are locked he will go over and grab your hand, take you to the door and push your hand onto the lock and say "Open, open" super smart kiddo!!!!

Well I think that is all I really have to say about whatever it was I had to say. Thanks for taking the time to read about my boring life and all the random ness that goes on in my head.

What to do?!?!

So we have Jack's cousin's wedding this weekend in Corpus Christi. It's going to be on the beach with a hotel reception. So I A: have nothing to wear to a wedding; B: have nothing to wear to a BEACH wedding; C: HATE SAND!!!! So I've been looking around at different websites to get ideas as to what to wear to a fall wedding on a beach where the weather is saying it could be as hot as 86. The wedding is at 5 pm, so it might be getting a little cooler, but still not cold. Many of the outfits that I have looked at require what I'm assuming are skinny jeans ( which I own none of) and boots that you wear over the jeans (not quite over the knee but some are close), so the delima I have is trying to find a cute outfit to wear to the wedding, on the beach, that is till nice and cute, but also something that I can turn around and wear to work (at a school), so it doesn't need to be fancy by any means, and I also would like for it to be a bit practical because I will more than likely be chasing around a 19 month old son; on the beach in the sand!!! I have seen so many really cute outfits that I would like to try but think I could never pull off or would look really stupid walking up in an outfit like that. I would really like to change around the way that I dress, mostly jeans and some-what cute tops. But it is starting to turn to fall and soon behind will be winter and I would really like to have some seasonal clothes that I can wear. I don't really have a style and all of my school clothes at the moment are summer clothes. So I really do need to go and buy some clothes for the fall, unfortunatly "Fall" in south texas doesn't really mean much, one day it will be 60 and then the next day its back up to 80. I don't think I have lost enough weight to pull off skinny jeans, but I really do like the way that they look inside of boots.

EEEKKKK!!!!

Oh did I mention today is Wednesday and the wedding is SATURDAY!!!

It's been too long

So I think the last time I posted anything it was still summer and 110 degrees outside. Well lots of things have happened since the last post. School is in full swing and we are already half way thru our first 9 week grading period and we are all still running around like a bunch of chickens with our heads cut off trying to make sure that we are doing everything correctly. Last few days have been a little rough on me though. Almost 2 weeks ago now I wrecked my small SUV. A deer ran out and was hit by a car about 6 cars in front of me and caused everyone to slam on their breaks, well my breaks didn't work all that well because I smashed into the back of a Chevy Truck; got thrown off the road into the ditch. My car died on impact and was all smashed up in the front. Luckily it was only me in the car and I didn't have Jackson. Something good did come out of this wreck though; I was given way more money then we thought the car was worth for the total and I was able to finally buy my TRUCK!!!!!

It's a 2011 Toyota Tundra Crew Cab!!!! I am sooo in LOVE with my truck!!!!! It is also a big step for me in my life because this is the first vehical that I am buying on my own. I got the loan and I am making the payments on it!!!! Now I was going to buy a new truck anyway but I was going to start saving for it and maybe start looking around Christmas time, well nothing in my life ever goes as planned so I got it a little early. SO now instead of saving for the truck I get to start making the payments on it. I am happy and feel so much more comfortable in the truck then I ever did in the SUV. So we have decided that I am a TRUCK GIRL; meaning that I have hade 2 small SUV's and have wrecked both of them (neither one was my fault) and have had now 2 trucks (the first one I got rid of becasuse I was having a baby and there wasnt any room in the back seat) and I just feel way more comfortable being taller and driving around in a truck!!!

So now the next big step we are going to be taking is that we are going to start looking for some land to live on. We are going to look for anywhere from 10-20 ish acres in the different areas around us. We have found a few that we liked but nothing was perfect yet. So hopefully we can find the perfect place and start building our house that we already have designed and drawn out (on paper).

Well thats about all I have to share now. (If anyone even reads this)

Much Love!!

Back to School

So I realize that it is still mid July but the fact that we start back to work at school the second week of August (less than a month from now), with workshops and being able to get into our rooms and set things up the way that we want them to be; I have decided that I am going to decorate my first classroom!!! The overall theme of the classroom is going to be Owls; so most of the classroom things will have Owls on them. I have decided to make (or decorate) most of the different things that will be actual decorations (non-educational). The first thing that I have finished decorating is the bulletin board that will go on the wall behind my desk!! There will be two but I ran out of ribbon before I could finish the second one so I only have pictures of the first one but the 2nd one will look exactly the same except there will be an elephant on the other corner of the board.

Some of the other crafts that I am going to make will be my name "Mrs. May" that will be covered with different fabrics or paper or ribbon and with fabric flowers that match the bulletin boards. Then I am going to make different wreaths or hangers for my door that will change as the seasons or holidays change. So for the beginning of the year I am making a wreath that is a "welcome back to school" wreath that will be covered with ribbon and then different "school" items all around it. Then I found the cutest hanger that says "Welcome Fall" with owls on it (I have to say it is really cute!!) Next is my FAVORITE holiday Halloween!!! So I bought three letters BOO that I am going to paint, then cover with paper and stickers and then attach them with ribbon to hang down from my door. Then I will have a Christmas/Winter Wonderland wreath that will hang thru January. This is as far as I have bought things for. For second semester I have ideas for Valentines day, St. Patrick's day, Easter, and a Spring wreath (which I know what I am going to do for this one).

I will post pictures as I finish things for my classroom!!! I am super excited and am trying to find as much time to finish all these projects before school starts because I know time will be tight when school starts. I try to work when the baby is sleeping and when I take him to daycare some days that I have nothing to do I will come back and work on all these things.

Until next time!!

Finally some good news!!!

Well I went on my 3rd job interview since I graduated in 2008. My first interview I was led to believe that the principal liked to hire first year teachers and help them grow, so I thought that I had a pretty good chance at getting this job; come to find out a few days later that he hired a teacher with 3 years experience, so much for that speech. My second job interview was for the job that I had this school year as an aide at an elementary school in New Braunfels. My 3rd interview was for a TEACHING POSITION at the same school that I have been working at for 7 months!!! I went in for an interview for a special ed classroom and got the call a few days later that they were going to recommend me for the position (the way it works is if they like you they will let HR know that you are who they wanted to hire then HR will call you and have you do all the paperwork and contracts and stuff) so for the 2011-2012 school year I will finally be a teacher!!! Finally all of my school work and hard work last school year has paid off and I have finally have the job that I went to school for!!! It is such a nice feeling knowing that I am going to be a teacher!!! For several years I was wondering if this was meant for me; if I was ever going to get a break and become a teacher; what was wrong with me that i couldn't get a teaching position. But I stayed positive and kept my head up and put in my hard work and it finally paid off!!!

So today I went to Lakeshore Learning Store (a teacher supply shop in San Antonio) and spent nearly an hour and a half wandering around and looking at everything that i wanted for my classroom for next year. Let me tell you I was in HEAVEN!!!! I am super excited to buy everything for my room for next year!!! So in a few weeks I am going to start going thru all the things that I have at home for my room and getting things in boxes to take to school in August. Then in July they are having a big sale on all of their items so my mom and I and maybe a few other teacher friends are going to go and shop to get new items for our different rooms for next year!!!

Also I can't wait until my birthday this year. Even if it will be a no firework birthday... BOO to the no rain... So July 4th this year will come and go without a BANG!! I will be 25 thought!!!! Yeah to half way to 50!!! HAHAHA I have so much to be thankful for in my (almost) 25 years of life!!! My HUSBAND of 1.5 years; my beautiful 1 year old SON; both of my PARENTS who are always there to help us out when we need it; and my FRIENDS who are always there for me to talk to and have fun with!!!

Much love and enjoy your summer!!!!

Let Summer Begin!!!

Last day of school!!!! That is only the first part of good news!!!! The second part of the good news is that I will be getting my own classroom next year!!! I will finally be a Teacher!!! I graduated from college in Dec. '08 and have yet to find a job until this year. I was finally hired on by the school that I work at now, but not as a teacher as an aide. I have been working in a special ed room all year and I actually went back and got my Special Education Teaching Certificate. So for next year the school is doing some switching of things and I will finally be a teacher!!!! I am super excited and have already been spending the last week getting all the different things ready for my room next year. I will still be working with the same student that I have this year but I will be her Teacher and I will have an aide to help me out!!! I am so excited about this news because it means that Jack & I can finally start to do what we have been dreaming of since we got engaged in 2006!!! BUY A HOUSE!!!! I think we have found the perfect house too; we were originally going to buy land this summer and then fix it up and get it ready for the house that we were going to build on it.

• Build a fence
• Build an arena
• Start to build the house

Yes in that order... The way we figured it we would need a fence and gate up first so that we could put the horses that we already have out on our property. The next step would be to build the arena and barns so that we can keep the horses out there and then ride them when we were out there doing work on the land. Last would be the house. I had alreay drawn out the house that I wanted and luckily our neighbor is an architect so he was going to draw up our house blueprints and all that stuff for us for free!!! Yeah to saving a few thousand~ So this process was probably going to take us a few years to get everything we wanted out there and move in ready. Well a few months ago this place in Canyon Lake was put on the market and a friend of ours told us it would be PERFECT for us!!!

• 23 acres
• Gated
• Barn/Horse Stable/Stud Barn
• Arena
• HOUSE (Main & Guest)
• Perfect location

Well the only problem was that they were asking WAY WAY TOO MUCH MONEY!!! Although it is worth every penny that they are asking for it; there was no way we were going to be able to afford it. On Wednesday Jack comes home from working and says that he talked to our friend who first suggested this place for us and said that they guy just wants to get rid of it and is tired of dealing with the fact that its not selling and he is dropping the price by MORE THAN 50%!!!!! Now what the guy is asking for all that comes on it is basically what the house is worth and that is it!!!!! SO now we are just going to wait and see if everything works out and hopfully by Christmas or early next year we can buy the house of our dreams!!!!! Here are jsut a few pictures!!!

The Front Gate

Barn & Stable

Breakfast Area

Wet Bar in the Game Room

View of the House

Kitchen

Living room

Guest House

Living Room

Living Room

This house is sooo beautiful and I can see our family growing in this house for many many years to come!!!!!

~Love~

The May Family

Believe

I have recently had a very difficult time believing in myself. I graduated from college in December of 2008 and have not been able to find a job. I revieved my education in... EDUCATION!!! For some reason though I have not been able to find a teaching positon. For two years I have been looking and wondering what I am doing wrong and why no one will give me a chance to show what I can do and help the children that will be our future!!! I have prayed and prayed about showing me the way and asking for guidence and asking for a sign to show me that there is nothing wrong with me and it really is just the tough economic times that are affecting everyone. The only problem is that when I graudated there were about 10 of us that had become really close thru out the three years that we spent together. For the most part you see the same people in most of your classes thru out the journey from Sophomore year til Senior year when you graduate. Well 9 out of the 10 got teaching jobs for the following school year. I was the only one that didn't get a teaching job. I was on the verge of depression. Around the same time I was also going through a lot of personal issues in my relationship with my now Husband.

On November 21, 2009 I got married and on March 5, 2010 I gave birth to our beautiful baby boy Jackson!!! He was a very unexpected suprise when I found out I was pregnant. But it does come at a time when I believe in Miracles!!! In June of 2009 Jack's Aunt passed away from a tramatic brain injury that she got from wrecking a motorcycle that she was riding with her husband. He ended up loosing one of his legs and his wife. It was very hard for him to believe what had just happened. I what was even worse was that both of his kids were on motorcycles behind them when the wreck happened and they had to see it all happen and not be able to do anything about it. Well around the time of the funeral everyone was joking around that I could be pregnant, not exactly sure how it got pinned on me that I was the pregnant one out of our group but somehow it was pinned on me. Although looking back now almost two years ago I was really tired all the time but I was just chalking it up to the fact that I wasn't sleeping and was spending most of my time up at a hospital. Well not too long after the funeral I did find out I was pregnant... Now I know that I had to get pregnant before Crystal passed away but still the timing was PERFECT!!! I have always believed that when one life passes another is created. God had choosen me!!! Me of all people to hold this blessed child and bring him into this world!!! Well Jack's Uncle was still in the hospital when all of this happened. He was on the verge of going into a depression when we found out I was pregnant. He just knew that it was Crystal coming back to this world!!! Me being pregnant gave him a reason to push on and fight to stay alive!!! He was at the hospital when I gave birth to Jackson and came into the room very shortly after to meet his wife in our son!!! He was very scared to hold him at first and it took a few months before he would hold Jackson. But he loved him with all of his heart!!!

A year later Jackson is in LOVE with Bo!!! When he comes into the room he reaches for him and wants to be held and hugged by Bo!! I truly believe that Crystal is Jackson reborn!!!! It makes me cry just thinking of how far my family has come since 2009!!!

Well I finally found a job in November of 2010; not a teaching job but a job at an elementary school; I get to work with children and I have made a great impression on the Principal here at the school. But I am still hoping that I can get a teaching positon for next school year.

This morning I was reading my Daily Devotionals from the great Joel Osteen. I love my Pastor but for some reason when ever I am having an issue in my life or something is just really getting under my skin I can turn on Joel on Sunday and he is preaching about whatever I am having an issue with in my life. It is the weirdest thing. My mom is the same way too!!! If we are just flipping thru the channels and happen to come across Joel on T.V. he is always talking to US about our problems!!! We always think I was made to hear this and he really does help. Well a few months ago I bought his Daily Devotions book and today's message was again just for me and my struggle with finding a job and doubting myself.

   ~ Change What You Expect~
                  Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you        and             wait expectantly.
                        PSALM 5:3

             In this lesson Joel talked about not always getting what we desreve in life but we do get what we expect out of life. We also get what we believe in, and unfortunatly it also works in the negative affect as well. That if we expect defeat and failure we will get what we expect. Now if you switch your thinking to a more positive positon you will get a positive outcome. The key is to expect good things from GOD!!!! "When you encounter tough times, ask God for wisdom, and change what you expect. Even if the bottom falls out of your life, you attitude should be: God, I know that You are going to use this for my good. I believe that You're going to bring me out stronger than ever before."

So this is exactly what I am going to do!! I am going to think more positive thoughts and ask God for wisdom and keep thinking that I WILL GET A TEACHING JOB!!! For whatever reason I was ment to not get a job when I graduated; I was meant to work at the school I do now; and I will get a teaching position when the time is right and the situation is correct for me and my family!!!

Hope you have a great Friday; It is what you make it; so make it good with GOD!!!!!

Hoppy Easter!!!!

Well this was Jackson's 2nd Easter. This year we spent it with Jack's Dad's Family at his dad's new house just south of Austin, TX. Let's just say that I was very happy to finally be back in my own bed on Sunday night. There were about 17 people trying to sleep in a small three bedroom house. We made it work but it was very loud and cramped! But boy was the cooking GREAT once Jack's aunt got there and made us breakfast and lunch for Easter!!!!

Jackson had such a great time playing with all of his cousins, and running around outside and just being a boy out in the country; sadly since he won't sit still he didn't get to go on the boat fishing with his Daddy and Uncle and Grandpa. Next time though!! :-) 

So other than getting BIT BY A DOG; Jackson had such a great EASTER!!!!!

Weekly Gratitude

I got this from Shallan's blog. I thought it was a nice way of showing my thanks each week, and also to remind me of all that I have to be thankful for!!!


1: My Son; Jackson I am so thankful that your surgery went well and there were no complications. I am also thankful that you won't have any more ear infections (atleast until the tubes fall out)
2: My parents: You both help me out so much with Jackson; when I don't feel well or have had a rough day and just need a minute to wind down and not have a toddler climbing all over me at that moment. I am also thankful for you guys for allowing us to stay with you for so long. The idea of leaving my best friend was a scary thought but thanks to my dad that will never happen and Jack and I will have our own house soon!!!
3: Amy; I don't know what I would do without you in my day to give me my comedic laugh during lunch. I am also thankful that I can bitch to you when I just need to let off some steam. Thank you for asking how Jackson was doing and actually wanting to hear the answer.
4: My Husband: You are my true best friend and I love you so much!!! Thank you for being so passionate about Jackson and wondering why things were going so slowly when you knew that it had been forever. I enjoy spending as much time together as we have and look forward to all the many many years that we have to look forward to. I am also thankful that you put up with me when I get in a mood!! I LOVE YOU!!!

Jackson is Growing up So FAST!!!

So last night there were some tears of fear and tears of joy around our house. The tears of fear were when Jackson fell face first off of our step into our living room from our dining room!!! He was bouncing a big blue ball (which he LOVES) and I thought he was already in the living room bouncing the ball behind the chair. I was laying on the floor streching out because I had just arrived home about 20 min. before all this happened, from working out and letting our babies play together with Jenica. So we are all just sitting around and next thing I know my mom is YELLING "OH MY GOD THE BABY!!!!" Crash!!! Baby goes face first down the step. Luckily no damage was done, I think it just really scared him!!!! After we got him calmed down I decided that I was going to give him his bath!!! I needed some alone time with just Baby and Mommy!!! I was feeling like a HORRIBLE mother at this point for not watching my baby and for not being able to save him from the fall. So we get done with our bath time and get him all ready for bed, got the goodnight diaper on and his Jammies with his new socks. So we go downstairs and for dinner we are having PIZZA!!!! Such a great last minute dinner. Well Jackson is walking back and forth from each person wanting to eat off of their pieces. I have his own piece on my plate so he keeps coming back to me... When he walked up to me he did the most AMAZING THING!!!! Now keep in mind he is only 13 months old!!!!! We have been working on the baby sign language with him for a few months and he has yet to do anything, which is not supprising because he is still very young. So he walks up to the couch that I am sitting on and SIGNS "MORE"!!!!!!!! Which is where you push your fingertips together

He did this so many times when he wanted MORE food!!!! He was also SAYING More More!!!! It was the cutest thing I have ever seen!!! I was so proud of my little Man!!!! He also towards the end of the meal started doing the"EAT" or "FOOD" sign!!! Let me just say that he is not a baby any more!!!

Love my little Jackson!!!!

Tom's or Bob's??

Have you seen the new Sketcher shoes?? They are called BOB'S. They look IDENTICAL to TOM'S shoes. Now I know that when you buy a pair of TOM'S shoes they donate 1 pair. I heard from a person that I work with that when you buy BOB'S shoes they donate 2 pairs. Now keep in mind that they look identical and are almost the same price.

These are the TOM'S shoes that I want. I think they are about $45. Now keep in mind they are really only about $20 if you think that you are really paying for two pairs of shoes, because one is getting sent off to a kid that needs them.

These are the BOB's shoes from Skechers. I think I was told that they would donate two pairs to some where out in the world. These shoes are $45. So they are the same price, look the same and I believe will donate two pairs of shoes. I just don't know how the quality of the two shoes would compair. I work with several people who LOVE their TOM's shoes and are livid with the fact that someone else is trying to rip off TOM's shoes. So I don't know. I am still thinking that I like the TOM's shoes more because they really do have a lot more styles and colors and different things to offer than BOB's.

Let me know what you think about the issue!!

A week off and Now back to work

Well Spring Break has come and gone this year. On Saturday we all drove up to Oklahoma to see my Mamma, we stayed until Wednesday. It was a very nice get away without having to go too far. On Tuesday we went to the OKC Zoo!!! It was Jackson's first ever zoo trip!!! He LOVED IT!!!!!! We spent about 3 hours in the Zoo and he was sacked out when we were walking out of the zoo. We came back home on Wednesday and on the ride home our TV in the van decided that it didn't want to work anymore!!! So that was a long and boring trip home because we couldn't watch any movies. But we made it home safely and all is well. Thursday my parents and I all had Wellness appointments with this new doctor who will help us all and especially me with my back (hopefully). Friday rolls around and I want to take a trip to our zoo here in San Antonio. I invite a few friends with kids but none of them are able to make it and don't want to fight the crowds at the Zoo, which I understand. SO my mom says that she would go with me since we are such big zoo fans!!!! We drive down to the zoo and sit in traffic for about 45 min just trying to get onto the street that the zoo is on!! Yep thats right 45 minutes!!! Luckily that was when Jackson decided that he needed and wanted to take his nap, so that actually worked out perfectly. When we get closer to the zoo we are soo afraid that there will be NO parking!!! We drive up to Alamo Stadium and they have a sign that says $10 parking. My mom said this isn't too far to have to walk and it will save us some more driving around looking for parking. We are the next car to ask if there is any room and they put up the cones to say the lot is full!!!!! Shoot!!! So we drive past it and litterally 20 yards in front of this parking lot there is another lot with a bike cop and I ask him if there is any room and he says, "Yep one more, come on in" SCORE!!!! We park and are litterally right in front of the zoo. So as we are walking up to the zoo the lines are gonna take like an hour just to get up to the window. Luckily we have our ZOO MEMBERSHIPS!!!! So when we walked up they told us that since we were members we could go around to the education center and they would let us in right over there. We walk the 100 yards or so to the education center and NO LINE!!! We walked right into the middle of the zoo and started off with no problems!!!! We spent about 2 hours in our zoo and decided to call it a day for today, Jackson was ready for his second nap. So it worked out perfectly!!! Saturday and Sunday fly by like we didn't even have them and Monday morning rolls around!!!!

At 4:30 my alarm goes off. Not 5:30; 4:30. Then it DOESN'T go off at 5:30!!!! So I was running late this morning on my way to work. It is not 7:45 and I am just now starting to really wake up!!! I didn't get my usual 30 minute wake up routine that I get in the morning so I am all off!!!! Luckily my morning is running smoothly otherwise!!!

Hope all have a good MONDAY!!!

Love, Michaela

Japan

Please pray for all those affected by the tsunami that hit this morning...

Guess Who's Walking!!!!!

As of 10:10 PM on March 7, 2011 Jackson Michael May is walking around the house!!!!! Granted he has only take maybe 20 steps all together, but they were in like 8 or 10 step groups!!!!! We got home from Hall Pass last night and Jack's mom was watching him and said that he had taken a few steps while she was watching him. We thought ok he has done that with us for the past few weeks. So when we got home I stood him up and pointed him towards my dad who was now watching him and he took like 6 steps towards my dad!!!! Then we picked him back up and pointed him towards me, well behind me was the red broom; did i mention that he is obesssed with the red broom and the red vaccum; so when he saw the red broom behind me he didn't want to walk to me; so he started off towards me then diverted his attention and WALKED over to the red broom!!!!! That walk  was a good 10 step for my little toddler!!!!!! So he might not have been walking by his first birthday but two days later he is offically a toddler, and walking around the house!!!!!! To say the least I am SUPER EXCITED!!!!!!

Pictures from Jackson's Birthday!!!!

Jackson on Shorty. Uncle Jarod's horse!!!

This is the cake that I decorated for his party

His last gift was a 4-wheeler from his Papa Jack and Grandma Jan!! He learned how to ride it and power it within about 10 minutes!!! Such a smart little 1 year old!!!!

It is cake time!!! He had his own cupcake that he could tear apart and make a mess out of!!!

These are just a few that I took from his birthday party!!!! I can't believe that I have a 1yr old son!!!!

Happy Birthday to Jackson!!!!!

Well today was my son's 1st birthday!!!! I have to say that it went perfectly!!! Yesterday I would not have agreed that things would go off without a hitch. First my hair cut took way longer than I had planned, and then grocery shopping took twice as long as I though it would!!! Checking out of HEB took almost longer than it took me to find all the things!!! And did I mention that I took Friday off and this was at 1 PM that I was at HEB!!!!! Don't people work anymore??? So I finally get back home and am starting to make all my cupcakes and the horse cake for the birthday, I go to turn on our oven and IT DOESN'T WORK!!!!! It keeps saying some code -se- on the screen; well come to find out later that it means there is a key short on the stove!!! So after all of that takes place I get all the batters in the oven and cook the cupcakes and cake... the cupcakes go off with no problem but I look at the cake and the center IS NOT COOKING!!!! It's still all soupy!!!! WTF!!!! So after almost an hour in the oven i decide to just give up and try again tomorrow!!! So that cake went into the trash can... Then we went to dinner with my Dad's family for my Grandma's birthday at Olive Garden... Jack and I went to pick up Jackson from daycare and drove over to Olive Garden on the other side of town... I was under the impression that we were eating at 7 for dinner!!! OH NO they didn't get there until almost 720 and then we got put on the list for dinner. So around 8 we are seated and asked our drink orders... all in all i think it was around 9 by the time we finally got our food... After we eat we pack up Jackson and drive back to our house... by the time we finally get back home it is about 10 PM, so we get Jackson in bed... then I take some medicine because my back and tailbone are killing me and I pass out...
Wake up Saturday morning and bake Jackson's horse cake... Success!!!! I have to let it cool down before i frost it, but i manage to decorate the house and get all the last minute things ready like putting out the chips and dip and getting his sign in photo frame ready and putting out all the chips and dips!!! The cake is ready to frost and I decorate it to look like a horse!!! I am very very proud of myself for all that I did today!!!!! (I will post pictures later). My fear of no one coming was totally off!!! there were so many friends and family here and it made me feel really good that other people were wanting to celebrate our son's first birthday!!!! We had several friends come and it reminded me how absoultly blessed we are to have such great friends who care about us and our family!!!!! Jackson also got SOOOO many gifts!!! We also had Jack and Jarod's horses out at our house for the kids to do "pony" rides, another hit!!!!! Jackson is in love with being on the horse, he didn't want to get off when we finally put him on the horse!!!! All in all I would say his 1st party was a COMPLETE SUCCESS!!!!!!!
I can not believe that I have a ONE YEAR OLD Son!!!! It is so weird that my son is growing up so quickly, before I know it he will be graduating college and wanting to get married and have children of his own!!!! If you don't have kids trust me when I say time flies by so quickly and it really feels like it is in a blink of an eye!!! Now I am looking forward to finishing out the school year and spending the summer watching Jackson grow and learn to swim!!!
Thank you all for everything you are doing and helping me and watching as our family grows and learns as we go!!!!

~Love The Three May's~

OMG!!!!!

Saturday is Jackson's 1st Birthday and I can't believe it!!!! I have so much to get ready for!!!! Grocery shopping and making the cake and decorating it; making cupcakes and decorating them... WOW!!!! I am really hopping that the weather they are projecting is real because it is going to be a beautiful day on Saturday. I also hope that people really show up. That is always a fear of mine that no one will show up and I will be standing there by myself. I'm sure that there WILL be people at Jackson's birthday party. I just get raelly nervous, because do other people really think that your kids 1st birthday is as big of a deal as you do???

We did get his 1st present in the mail yesterday from my GOD-Parents, who live in England!!!! Haven't opened it yet but I love them so very very much for thinking of him and me and my family at all times!!!!! So i have to send them out a thank you card as soon as possible because that is something I am terrible with!!!!!

On a completly different note. Do you ever have really random dreams where you are going back like 7-10 years and hanging out with the people that you use to be really good friends with and then picture your life if you had remained friends??? Boy would things be different!!!!! I wouldn't change anything that I have now for the world but I always wondered how different my life would be if I had done one thing differently in the past. Had I not gone to one party or pissed off this friend or moved here or there... just something I wonder from time to time!!!

Bethenny Frankel - Bethenny Ever After - In the Thick of It - Blog - Bravo TV Official Site

Bethenny Frankel - Bethenny Ever After - In the Thick of It - Blog - Bravo TV Official Site

I PASSED; Saturday

WELL it is official I passed my Special ED EC-12 Exam!!!! That is very exciting news for me and my family. I am working very hard at what I do and am trying everything possible to be a better teacher!!!! The next test on my list is ESL which I will take on March 26. Luckily this study guide is only about 100 pages (practice test and answers included) where as my other study guide wat about 300 pages!! This next test I am less worried about for some reason. The SPED test just was a scary test for me. I guess because so many people that I have talked to about it couldn't remember the types of questions that were asked. I don't really know how to describe it other than I was just really scared. But that anxious feeling has passed and now I can focus on Jackson's 1st birthday which is coming up on Saturday!!!!

Saturday

On a happier note Jackson will turn 1 on Saturday!!! I can't believe that a year ago I was giving birth to him and he made our lives complete. There are so many things that I still need to get done

• clean the downstairs and green room and make sure the grill is cleaned
• set up all the decorations and put away anything that I don't like or want to be ruined by all the other people that will be at our house Saturday.
• Make the cupcakes and horse cake and decorate them the way that I want
• Prepair all the gift bags and make sure that everything is set our properly and makes sense for the way I want the party to go.

I have the two cutest shirts for him to wear. Probably one before cake and one after. I hope that his day goes great and he has a fun time. I'm sure he will never remember the time he had at his 1st birthday but it is such a big moment in his life I think all the bells and whistles are necessary!!!!

Waiting

Ok is it just me or when you are told that your test results will be available in one to three days don't you expect them to really be ready in on to three days??? Yes??? Ok so it's not just me?!?!?!?!!? Well on Thursday I took a test for my Special Ed certification and they told me that my results would be available in that time frame... It's now Monday, which is day 4 and my results STILL aren't up!!!! So my brain starts to wonder and starts thinking that well I guess I must have missed so many questions that I failed otherwise my results should have come up in about 1 day... So now I am all kinds of nervous and cringing whenever I open the website to see if my scores are available... GEEZ I hate waiting!!!!!!!

Test Anxiety (after the fact)

Well yesterday I took my Special Ed EC-12 test. People keep asking me how I think I did on it. I have been telling everyone that I think I did ok. But the Honest truth is that I'm not sure how I did. I am scared out of my mind to find out what the test results are for the test. I wish that it was an instant answer. Or I had a great idea last night; you just keep answering questions until you answer enough right to pass. Granted you are only given 5 hours to take the test so that would still be the time frame but it would guarantee a pass as long as you weren't a complete idiot. I'm just nervous for my scores to come in because I want to know if I'm stupid and I just wasted 120$ or if I passed and can add it to my certification for next year. I need all the help I can get to get a classroom teaching job next year considering all the cuts that are being made for the schools here in Texas... Nothing is good news coming from anyone about jobs for next year. All we can do is cross all our fingers and toes and hope for the best. Now I have to get ready for my ESL test that I am taking at the end of March. Yeah Test taking!!!!!

Not a good way to start off a Wednesday

Let me tell you the Joys of Motherhood are not in me this morning... Tuesday was not a good day for some reason. Nothing major happened, it was just one of those days where if it could go wrong it did!!! So Jack gets home last night at 9 P.M., so we are talking in our Kitchen with my dad and he just off hand mentions; "Oh, my Dad doens't think he is going to come to Jackson's Birthday" WHAT THE HELL!!!!! I ask in the nicest non-annoyed voice possible; "Why not???" Well apparently Jack's younger brother made a big deal over something not big at all and Grandpa doesn't want anything to ruin Jackson's birthday. So his solution is just to stay away... Which is very very sad for many reasons. One reason is that it will make it look like Kent doesn't care about Jackson since he's not there. and 2: Why can't you just get along for one day!!!!! Seriously it's not like we are asking you to sit next to each other and only talk to the other person for the entire day!!! You don't have to even make eye contact with the other person!!!!! It just seriously pisses me off that you can't put stupid stuff behind you after how many years???!?!?!?!!?!?!?

So at 1:45 this morning Jackson decides that he is going to wake up and start crying... Usually we would just let him cry until he fell back asleep; well the past few weeks he has ear infections and we are thinking that we are going to have to put tubes in his tiny little ears (Sad). So Jack said he would get the bottle if I would get him and change him and bring him into our bed. Ok; he usually will fall back to sleep at this hour... Well at around 2:15 he is still tossing and turning; guess who jumps out of bed to go sleep on the couch (one guess; its not me)... So Jackson continues to cry, wake up, go back to sleep off and on for another 45 mins. Finally around 3 something I need to get some sleep I have to wake up at 5:30 to go to work. I decide that he is going to cry one way or another and sleeping next to me will always keep him wallering around on me. So I put him back in his crib and he crys for like 10 more minutes then goes back to sleep. I finally fall back to sleep and I swear I closed my eyes and my stupid alarm went off!!!!! I seriously almost fell asleep driving in to work this morning. Its a 45 min drive one way!!! SO Coffee Coffee Coffee; in the words of Loralie Gilmore.

Please let it be Spring Break tomorrow!!!!!

Does This Make Me Crazy?!?!?!?!?!?

So Jack and I were wanting to finally move out into our own house; with land. We originally said that we could do with about 5 acres and a small house with only about 2,500 sq ft. Which was perfectlly fine with me... Less house to clean. Well over the weekend Jack and my dad were working together on a sprinkler system in Floresville. They got to talking and my parents are going to retire in 3 more school years. They live in a nice two story house; well they are thinking about the future where the stairs are going to be the death of them... And when they do pass on Jack and I are going to have to deal with the whole house situation. SOOO Jack had sugessted that when we get land we would just get a few more acres; more like 10 now and my parents would just build a house on the land with us. Then they got to talking a little bit more about the idea and it would just make more sence for us to all live in the same house again. So our small house with a few acres has grown to we need about 20 acres ( a bare minimum) for all that we are going to be doing with it and on it. And our house went from 2,500 sq ft. to about 10,000 if not bigger!!!! I like to call the idea I have in mind an upside down T-shirt; the arms would be the two halls for the bedrooms. Down one hallway would be my Parents "House" Bedroom with their own bathroom/shower and sitting area. Then there would be two guest bedrooms down that hall for if we had other family members staying with us for the weekend; or friends visiting us. Down the other arm would be our "House" with our bedroom with it's own bathroom/shower, and Jackson's room; and another room for if we have another kid. We would have a nice library in our house, and huge kitcken, and a nice size living room with an open floor plan for the most part. Jack and my dad and his dad and other family members are going to build this Ranch house for us, so that will help us save some money.  Jack was also thinking about boarding horses to help us make a little bit of extra money to help with the extra expenses. Now the big question... Where are we going to find all the land we need?!?!?!?!!?

So this is our plan and now we get to save save save... So hopefully in the next 5 years we can start on our dream home!!!!! I am very excited about all this... And the best part: IT was Jack's Idea!!!!!

Digital Dilemma

SOOO I won a bet against Jack when we were driving home from Oklahoma over Christmas break. He bet that I couldn't stay awake the entire trip home; I said what do you want to bet; He let me choose what I would win. Well earlier I had been talking to my mom about how if I started to save $100 a month I could afford to buy myself a Digital SLR camera for my Birthday in July. SO that is what I said I wanted if I stayed awake the entire trip home... Needless to say I WON!!!! So now I don't know what camera to get... I think I have it down to Cannon or Nikon (Leaning more toward Cannon; I have two other Cannon's which I LOVE), and that's about as far as I've gotten. I need to make up my mind because he wants to start looking around and pricing them (not exactly cheap) but I can't tell him exactly what kind I want to get... I'm thinking either the Cannon EOS Ti or the EOS Rebel... the Ti is more advanced but I think in the long run it will keep me happier longer than the other one... but again I have no frame of reference. So if you have a Digital SLR that you LOVE would you please let me know!!!!! (This also implies that people are reading my blog)

Thanks so much!!!!!!

Valentine's Day!!!

So I'm not a big fan of V-day in any way shape or form... I haven't been since High School... Not sure it had happy memories for me when I was younger... Well in 2006 my then boyfriend took me to a nice dinner at Rainforest Cafe on the Riverwalk in San Antonio!!! (Rainforest is my FAVORITE resturant by far... thank you UCA Cheerleading Nationals in Florida) He had a box in a Cavenders bag and I thought I was getting a belt or something... BOY WAS I WRONG!!!! Inside the bag was a box of chocolotes... YUMMY!!!! But I noticed that the top layer was sitting sort of funny... So I lifted it up and there was a box inside the box of chocolates... I pulled the box out of the other box and Jack stood up and walked over to me and took the ring box from me and got down on one knee in front of out table (which was right in front of the fish tank) and asked me to spend the rest of our lives together!!! OF course I said yes!!! So we finally got married and this year we went back to Rainforest Cafe with our Son for his 1st Valentine's Day!!! Let me tell you he LOVED IT!!!! All the different animals making noises and moving around... We were sitting right next to a big gorilla... Now you would think most kids under that age of 5 would be afraid of these big moving noisy animals... NOT JACKSON!!! He was waving at them and getting all excited when they would go off... He looked sadder when they stopped then when they were going... IT was the cutest thing I have ever seen... Just wish I had my camera with me to capture the moment... Of course I left it at home because my Husband neglected to tell me where we were going to eat for dinner...

Going back a little bit.... when I got home from work there was a Card and a Box of CHOCOLOTE COVERED STRAWBERRIES waiting for me on the stair banister... YUMM-TASTIC!!!!! So we got dressed and ready to go; went and picked up Jackson from Daycare... and started to drive to our dinner. Still not knowing where we were going I was just along for the ride, playing with Jackson in his carseat and laughing at him singing along with the radio and his daddy... Which I might add is the CUTETEST thing I have ever seen ( I say that a lot). But none the less it was a very nice Valentine's Day with Jack, me and Jackson!!!! It was perfect if you ask me!!!!!

Birthday Party

So we went to our first birthday party for a 1 year old this year!!! She had such cute ideas for Ella's birthday party, OWLS. LOOK WHOO'S TURNING 1!!! How cute is that?!?!?!?!?!?! We are having a Cowboy theme for Jackson's 1st birthday!!! YIKES I can't believe that in a few weeks Jackson is going to be 1 already!!!! Man how time flies!!!!! I have to get on the ball with all the different decorations!!! I was thinking about all the different things that I wanted to do and need to make or buy in the coming weekends!!! We are going to bring one of the horses down so the kids can have a horse ride!!! One of Jackson's fav things is to sit on top of the horse and play with the reins!!!! SO i was thinking about getting a lot of bandanas to hang all over the house like a banner and maybe have different letters on them that spell out things like where to put the gifts, where the food is going to be, where the drinks are, maybe outside depending on the wind for the horse back rides (not sure about this one yet) and another sign for the CUPCAKES!!!!! That is what I am going to be making for the little man are a lot of cupcakes and some of them are going to look like horses!!!!! How cute will that be!!!! Hopefully I will have enough time to make and/or get everything that i will need for his birthday on March 5!!! Like I said earlier I can't believe that he is already going to be 1!!!!!!

Cold Weather

OH you have got to love the FREAK cold weather that we just got here in Bulverde/New Braunfels... Let me tell you how fun that trip in was this morning when you wake up and put your feet on the hardwood floor and even though the heater is on in our house the floors are COLD!!!!! Walk into our TILED bathroom FREEZING FLOORS!!!! So at 5:30 this morning I started off cold!!! Got dressed in my thermal shirt a t-shirt over that, leggings, jeans tall socks, my ugg boots and a scarf and fleece jacket from Old Navy (still don't feel warm enough). Grab some coffee and a banana for breakfast and start out for my 45 minute drive into work from Bulverde to New Braunfels at 5:45. I usually don't leave until 6 or a few minutes after, but since I wasn't sure how bad the roads were going to be since I drive thru the Hill Country and those roads aren't the most traveled at that time in the Morning I wanted to make sure that I gave myself plenty of time incase something went wrong or there was ice on the roads over the bridge. Luckily the roads were good for the most part... there was just a little part of the road over a bridge that was a little iffy but I made it over just fine. And of course there were very few other cars on the road because who in their right mind would be out at this time when the weather is so horrible... I had no choice but to come in today... So I left my husband and son sleeping warmly in our nice warm house and was venturing out in the 20 degree weather which felt like 7... 7 degrees outside!!!! Seriously I live in SOUTH TEXAS it's not suppose to get this cold ever!!!! Whatever I'm alright and I made it into work just fine and get to stay inside my classroom all day today and not go back outside until its time to go home at 3:30 ish... Hope everyone stays warm today !!!!!

Gotta Love The Children

Have you ever worked so hard to get a kid to follow the rules??? As a teacher it is something that we strive for every day!!! Well when you work with the lovely child that graces my day all day Monday - Friday getting said child to follow what is expected is a great task!!!! Lovely Child has been doing WONDERFULLY for the past month, hasn't attacked anyone, has been listening to me when I tell the directions for the tasks at hand. And then today I am out of the room testing some other students for another teacher and my 1 lovely child decides to go back to the old ways of doing things and attack and bite!!!! SERIOUSLY!!! Not only is it FRIDAY but we haven't seen any of these behaviors in OVER A MONTH!!!!!! I am trying to help another teacher set of their reading centers for monday so I am testing all of her students for her and getting tasks in mind and she was helping me out by stepping into my classroom, and my child attacks her!!! Nice way of saying thanks!!! Luckily my lovely child is sleeping for most of the afternoon so I can get someother things finished around my room, and I can finishe planning the reading centers so that on Monday when we come back to school I can set them up and start them with her students and hopefully by the end of the week these kids will understand what is to be expected of them and start some serious learning. And if your wondering why we are just now doing all of this when then year is almost over (school year not calendar) it is because I was pulled out of that room and placed the room that I am in right now and was never able to get this ball rolling before now. but we are on our way to finishing out the year STRONG!!!! I'm just hoping that with all the budget cuts that are being made in the school districts that something in a General Ed room will still be available for me to step into!!!

On a happier note Jackson will be 1 in a few weeks!!! That is both exciting and sad to me. As a mother I want my baby to always stay a baby, and I can't believe how fast this year had flown by, so that is a little bit sad for me to think that a whole year has already gone by and it seems like just yesterday i was going into the hospital to have him!!! On a happier note i get to plan and get things all ready for his FIRST Birthday Party!!!!! I am sooooo exicted, we are going with at COWBOY theme!!!! So we will have one of Jack's horses in the backyard and will be giving horse rides!!!!! Gotta love it!!!!!