back to the grind....

Well, its back to work tomorrow......actually, its not too bad of a thing. Both Jn and I are bored and are looking forward to getting back to our routine. JEB definitely is looking forward to school and seeing his little friends. At least during Christmas break, he'll go to the church's daycare for the second week every day and play, play, play!!! He'll love it!! Plus, it'll get out his energy and give him something to do each day and not drive his mommy and daddy CRAZY!!!

It was a nice few days off.....the best part about being a teacher is the days off each year! But I love what I'm doing, so its not a chore to be there every day!!

Plus, I can now officially start my birthday countdown........22 days till my birthday!!! I'm so excited!! I love my birthday!! My grandma used to make it so special! She'd bake me a cake....whatever I wanted and would cook my favorite meal. As I got older, I used to have my BFF over to spend the night and we'd celebrate Christmas. It was always fun. My brother used to be so excited about me opening my gift from him.....sometimes he couldn't stand it and would help me open it! He was so funny!

Now, I will count down and then on the morning of, sing Happy Birthday to Me. I can't wait until I can teach JEB to sing to his momma!!

So, everyone have a great Monday and don't work too hard!

It's IRON BOWL day.....

Now, to those of you NOT from ALABAMA the Iron Bowl will mean absolutely nothing to you....because to those of us from ALABAMA, we know that the Saturday after Thanksgiving is when Auburn plays ALABAMA. This is the biggest rivalry in the state of Alabama. Jn actually told me this next tidbit when we got married....he said that I would have to declare my intended school when I became legal in AL. He also told me that when a child is born, that as a parent you must declare which school your child would pull for in the Iron Bowl. You laugh, but it is soooooo true. All over the state of AL. today households are preparing for the big fight this afternoon.

Alabama may be #1 in the college football nation and the only undefeated team left in the top 25, but today anything goes. Auburn has won for the past 6 years, people. SIX YEARS!!! It is time for Saban's boys to bring it to the field and show Auburn whose boss and that we belong in the top spot!! ROLL TIDE ROLL is all I have to say!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Happy Thanksgiving......everyone! Before I get started with all of my cooking and baking for the day, I just wanted to take a moment and say that.....and kind of start a list of things I'm thankful for....

I'm THANKFUL for.......
GOD being in control of every little detail of our lives, because that's one thing I
don't have to worry about or lose sleep over

being here in Albany, GA because it's exactly where GOD put us

that all of us are relatively healthy and happy

that we can celebrate our freedom in an amazing country

that Jesus died on the cross for my sins and rose again the third day, just like the
prophets said he would


Keep the list going and tell me what you're thankful for......

Have a wonderful day with all of your families.

ARE YOU COOKING YET?????

So, are you cooking yet????? Have you baked your pies???? I haven't yet.....I will though. I sort of cheated though and bought a pumpkin pie from Publix......John's pecan pie, I will probably make. Well, maybe. I went shopping yesterday, since we had a half day of school, I took advantage of the afternoon. Although, it seems many others had the same idea. Publix was PACKED. While I say this, it was nice to see ALL the lanes lit up and a check out person at each and every station. There wasn't a line more than two deep! You'd NEVER see that at Wal-Mart or K-Mart!!! Target was horrendous!!! Only one checker!!! 10 people in line waiting! BAD!!

I am ahead of the curve a little bit since my Christmas decorations are up......more or less. I still need to put the mini ornaments on my ALABAMA tree in the den, and find my wreaths/door ornamentation, but for the most part, I'm ready for Christmas!!! I tried to convince Jn to hang outdoor lights but it was a NO GO. Oh well, I'll keep trying. I'm all ready to go look at others though.

And you know, the sad part about today is this.......I'm bored already. I'll scrap and I'm trying to convince John to take JEB to a movie....his first at a theater.......just for something to do.

But tomorrow I'll be busy.......baking, cooking and getting ready for dinner. Gotta go feed my ever always hungry little guy.

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!!!

Saturday WAS NOT any better....

well, while JEB was totally better and on the mend, it seems that he passed it along to ME! I woke feeling very full and tummy=yucky and actually did ok for a couple of hours, then proceeded to toss my cookies! Oh yeah, loads of fun.....BUT it did make me feel much better. Slept on and off all day, was sick AGAIN a couple of times and now have the other, as well. Loads of fun! While now, 12 hrs. later, I feel better and have kept down some orange sherbert and SPRITE, I'm still weak and haven't really eaten anything today. AND Jn is starting to feel bad.....oh, yippee!! Hopefully by morning, it will have worked its way thru my house and things will get back to normal tomorrow!

So, how was everyone else's SATURDAY???? At least my Christmas tree is up! Did that yesterday!

Tell me some of your 'sick' day remedies.....

I'm SO glad it's FRIDAY....

Hey everyone......and am I ever glad it's FRIDAY!!! and only 1 1/2 days for next week!! YIPPEE!!

Well, JEB is sick with some sort of stomach virus, because he was busy tossing his cookies last night....yeah, loads of fun! Let me tell you, pizza just doesn't hold the same attraction the second time around! I'm thinking I won't be eating it any time soon! We're really not sure what's going on......he was fine, eating and playing, then he came in and was laying on me and **voila**......upchuck! So we cleaned up, .....chair, carpet, him, ME ..... and then went and lay down on his bed. He went to sleep with no trouble and about 10:30 started coughing and such and whatever was left in his tummy, soon followed the demise of the previous contents! Then it was all the bedclothes, jammies and various and assundry stuffed animals that needed washing. I was doing laundry till about 1AM. He then slept fairly peacefully and woke with me at 5:30 AM. Went to school for a brief meeting with a parent, then came home and promptly put up my Christmas Tree!!!

He's eaten some soup and crackers, a little SPRITE but nothing else. I guess the good news is that it has stayed in him, instead of coming up!! Oh, the joys of motherhood!

I have some more pics to share, but left them on my desk at school so it will be next week before I get them on my computer.

Everyone have a great weekend!! I plan to!

no pain today....

Hey there......well, I feel pretty good today!! No pain meds, just advil only so that's a great thing! Still a tad bit swollen inside my mouth but nothing else really. Even though Jn elected to stay home with me instead of going back to school, he did very well taking care of me! He was quite the doting husband....made sure I had Sprite to drink, soup to eat and of course, the cure all for pain.....milkshakes!! He even went and picked JEB up from daycare, got him dinner, put him to bed and then stayed up late and watched the weather to make sure we weren't being blown away by a tornado!! What a guy!! Isn't he great????

Since I felt pretty good this morning, we went out for breakfast to IHOP and then off for grocery shopping at WalMart. Man, I so miss our WalMart's in Alabama. This one is ALWAYS FULL, jammed packed. They are always restocking merchandise and they are still always out of at least two or three things that I need and again, let me say PACKED!!! Today was no different. I would rather spend $50 more on groceries and go to PUBLIX!!! That's how bad it is!

But I guess the good news.....gas was only $1.97 per gallon!! NOT BAD! It only took 34.00 to fill my tank today. That is awesome!

Started thinking about Christmas shopping a little today. Planning my strategy for what I want to get everyone. I love Christmas!!!

I survived....

well everyone, I survived!! But now, I'm a little poorer and 3 teeth less.....there was another bad one on top of the same side that was beginning to get infected and it had already broken off some, so they pulled it too! All in all, not too bad. My drugs have kicked in and I'm feeling pretty good!! A little swollen, but not bad!

Thanks to those of you who were praying for me!! More later!

I have to have 2 teeth pulled.....

Hey all.....well, I only have another day before I get my teeth yanked out.....then I'll have a nice big empty space in the back of the left side of my mouth. At least I'm glad the dentist is doing stitches....I hate having a huge gap where there used to be a tooth! I go to the oral surgeon on Friday at 10:00am. Which of course means no food/drink for breakfast, which will kill me, I'm sure. Then I'll be drugged for most of the rest of the day and in pain for the evening. YIPPEE....this sounds like so much fun! All the while my darling little munchkin will simply stand by the bedside and ask me if I'm ok.....Yes, JEB....Momma's fine!

JEB's name...

By the way, I was just re-reading some of my thoughts and decided for any of you who are new to my blog that I should probably tell you where we came up with JEB's name.

We joined our church last night and so many of the people who came thru the line and shook our hands and told us how happy they were for us to be a part of the Sherwood family, would shake his hand and say, 'What a cute name!' Actually, it was my husband's idea.....J for John - not just named after his daddy but after his great-grandpa, E - Ethan....a John Wayne character from a movie and it was better than Edward, and B - Benjamin, which John decided on after he was born and we found out he had Down Syndrome and I had gotten sick from the anesthesia at the beginning of my C-section AND I put my foot down about him having the name Beauregard!! One of our friends kindly reminded John that we weren't naming our new family dog! So it's John Ethan Benjamin (JEB) and he's never ever been anything but JEB!

Just thought you'd like to know!!

JEB's version of 'Roll Tide Roll'

looking cute, as always!

This one was too cute to leave out, but I couldn't

figure out how to rotate it......

this was the end of his 'Roll Tide'

Of course, all of you from Texas won't appreciate our appreciation of the number 1 college football team in the nation.....ALABAMA!!!! ROLL TIDE!!!! Not that we play like the #1 team, but the fact remains we still are!!! We thought for sure that being placed as #1 was a certain death wish.....but we held out against LSU this last Saturday and kept the title.....for one more week, at least!

Now let me tell you, being in SW GA among all of these Bulldog fans is not an easy task, but we are learning to live with it.....although there is a couple of Crimson Tide flags and mailbox covers on our street, so there is hope!

Everyone have a GREAT day today!

I love fall......

I love fall! I love all the colors.....reds/oranges/yellows.....just exactly the same colors of sunrises/sunsets.....you think God likes those colors in particular, since he uses them so often???? Hummmmmmm.....something to think about!

I'm going to attempt to go out and take some fall pics of JEB this wkend and of some trees/foliage and such, so when I get them developed, I'll put them on the blog.

Nothing much really happening......well, except that I have to have two molars extracted next week. Good thing is......you get really great drugs for something like that for the PAIN, you know but the BAD thing is......it will cost me as much for this procedure as it just did for a crown for one of my front teeth!! OUCH!!! I think all the dentists have a racket going here. $1200 for a crown??? $1130 for xrays, extraction, and anesthesia??? I am in the WRONG profession!!

Any thoughts out there????

Well, GOD won....

Ultimately, GOD won the election yesterday. GOD's choice will become our next President, and while you may not have voted for him, GOD's will was spoken.....where we like it or not, GOD's will was spoken. Now, you need to spend the next four years praying for GOD to intervene for our country and to protect us as this next president makes choices that will affect our lives and the lives of our children. Let us seek GOD's plan in all of this and pray that HE hasn't turned away from us as a people.

Thank you LORD for loving us and for showing us that we need to follow you no matter what and that YOU are in control of all things! We love you FATHER!

As you vote tomorrow....

As you step out tomorrow to cast your vote for who you think would make the best leader of our country, remember to put that choice on the Heavenly throne and let GOD guide your conscience to who you believe would follow Him and do the best job of leading this country toward following GOD. Remember, no matter who wins this tomorrow, GOD is still on the throne and in total control of all that happens.....yes, even if the person who wins is not your choice, it will be GOD's choice.

As a nation, we have started down the path of Sodom and Gommorrah, and we all know how that story ended. Let us pray that as we support someone who will make decisions that will affect our children's lives in these next four years, we will think about the kinds of decisions he will make. Let's pray that we will get a reprieve from punishment, as did Ninevah during Jonah's time. God spared Ninevah because they repented and turned toward God.

VOTE your heart people. Pray for divine guidance as you choose. We may not get what we want, but we may get what we deserve. Be willing to live with the choice you make.

God is in control!!

I hate time change....

You know, what is with Daylight Savings time anyway???? Who came up with that one? No my "older' body must get used to a different sleeping schedule, which we all know totally messes you up. Then comes the child getting up at 5 AM, my only alone time in the house, but the good part here is that he will fall asleep right after dinner, if not sooner, like on the way home from school in the afternoon! Oh well, guess I just have to go along.....

For any of you who will read this today, I really want to ask for prayer for a friend of mine, we'll call 'JDB'. She is currently contemplating divorce from her husband of 5 yrs. Now, let me set the stage a little......her and her hubby, 'W', had been friends for several years and after a break up seemed to be hanging out with one another alot and one thing led to another and they ended up having to get married, due to the impending birth of 'L'. The thing is this, after being around my new church, which by the way, put out the movie 'FIREPROOF', which is all about restoring a broken marriage, I really feel led by the LORD to pray for healing in both JDB and W. It will take the mighty had of God to heal them both, from what she has told me. They both have their issues but you know, I am a product of a split family and know what its like. PRAISE GOD, my brother and I had my wonderful grandparents to raise us, while we still have our scars from it all, we have become productive adults due to their wonderful, godly raising. I know that GOD can heal their issues in this marriage, and I am praying for GOD to reach down to their souls and give them an unquivocal desire for no one but each other and a restlessness in their souls that only each other could fill. Please pray with me, fellow servants of GOD, that they will both be willing to listen to his calling in their hearts. I know that things have happened that will take some time to heal and deal with, but for the sake of 'L', who is only 2 1/2, they need to let God heal them, so they can have a wonderful life together. I know it wasnt started under the best of circumstances, but you know, GOD allowed it all to happen for a divine reason.

Thanks!

You know, there's just something to be said for Friday night HS football games, chilly weather, a large cup of Hot Chocolate and a fresh funnel cake! Sherwood played its final home football game last night, so JEB and I decided to go watch. Jn had gone to Auburn with several of his vball players and the other coach to watch Auburn play vball, so JEB and I were on our own. First, after picking him up from aftercare and seeing he was totally into Halloween......chocolate stains on his shirt, sucker in mouth and one in his little goodie bag and leftovers all over his face, I decided the best course of action was a bath, first then football game. Believe me, he wasn't very excited about giving up that sucker, either! So, off we went to the bathtub and quickly got all cleaned up and off to the game we went.

We got there early enough to get a great parking place and of course, most important, right when the concession stand opened!! Chicken fingers and fries and a coke, which we all know is the dinner of champions!!! And growing little boys! The boys played well, and of course, JEB enjoyed watching the cheerleaders, one of which is his babysitter when Jn and I go out. He was thrilled to see K and enjoyed watching the boys run up and down the field. Now, let me say, that I'm very proud of the guys and the team, this was their first winning season EVER in school history and to top it all off, they played this whole season with a head coach, who was going thru chemo and dealing with a form of terminal blood cancer. God has truly been with him this season, and it seems his cancer is in a mild form of remission. Please pray for him, Coach 'Rock', as he goes after Thanksgiving for stem cell harvesting and after Christmas, stem cell transplants. He is an amazing guy and truly loves the Lord and is always out to see what he can teach the guys thru what he's going thru. Ultimately, he knows that God is on the throne and has already determined the outcome of it all. His son, N, is the star running back and is also playing qb due to a broken foot for our regular quarterback. N, is one of my students and he's dealing with all of this with amazing strength and maturity for a 16 yr. old kid. I enjoyed watching him play last night.

Probably the only regret I had about going to this game....I forgot to take a blanket!! After the sun went down, it was COLD!!!! Poor JEB's little fingers were quite cold by the time we headed for home, but after half-time and the cheerleaders dance, we decided it was time to go!! I'm glad the guys won and will now play for the FIRST TIME EVER, in the playoffs. I hope they can go a couple of rounds. That would be way cool!!!

And then....the funnel cakes were awesome!! So much so, that JEB and I had TWO! I know, I know, but I'm such a sucker for sweet powdery sugar concoctions.....and just think, the fair is this week!! Wow, more sweet delights!