Fun Pictures...Oldies but Goodies!

Lia, Samantha, Kathryn, and I at school on St. Patty's Day 2008

Mrs. Cagle likes to refer to us as the "Elite Three"! JJ, Mrs. Cagle, and I- January 2008

My sweet family; Christmas Eve 2007- my Mom, Dad, sweet big brother, and new sister-in-law

My very first Kindergarten class! They are big 1st graders now, and I am SO proud of these

kiddos!! :)

Last Week Before the Break...

It's the last week before Christmas break! Only 4 more days of school and then a whole two and a half weeks off!

I had a fun weekend. We had little Trent Bug all weekend. On Friday night, I went to dinner with my parents and the baby. We went to Cracker Barrel, and it was really good! Saturday morning, Mom, Trent, and I went to Lauren and Lindy's (my friend Julie's twins) first basketball game. It was so funny, but they did a great job! I was so proud. After that, Mom and I had lunch and then went off to do some Christmas shopping. Trent was so good the entire day. By the time we got home, he was ready for a nice, long nap. His Sissy joined him for a few minutes...I was tired myself!! I went to church on Sunday night to see Lauren, Lindy, and Chandler in the Christmas play. Chandler stole the show and was absolutely hilarious!!!

Trent continues to be a blessing to our family. We are so crazy about him. My dad is absolutely in love with him, and it's so cool to see his interactions with him. It gives me a glimpse as to what a great "Papa" he will be to my children one day. Trent is now 6 months old, has two teeth, and his rolling over. We are spoiling him just a bit; let's just say that Santa is going to be very good to Trent for his first Christmas. He is our sweet little man!!

My house is all decorated for Christmas. I love my tree! It is a snowman tree; all of my ornaments are snowmen! I have my light up houses in my living room and lots of small snowman decorations; snowmen are my favorite! My grandmother bought me a gorgeous Christmas wreath for my front door; I have the best Nana ever! Also, my mom bought me wreaths to go on my windows, and she hung them for me! Very cool mom! I have loved staying home more lately so that I can enjoy my beautiful decorations!!! Haha!

I am really looking forward to Christmas; I will get to see my cousins, Kelly and Haley, who live in FLA. They are going to be here for a week, so we will get some major hanging out time. Haley has a new boyfriend who is coming up to spend Christmas with our family, and I am anxious to meet him. I have heard so much about him! Also, it will be exciting to experience Trent's first Christmas with him. Even though he really won't know what's going on, it will still be fun!

STATE CHAMPS

State was last weekend (Nov. 8th), and we WON! This is Woodland Cheerleading's 4th state championship. It was so AWESOME!! We left on Friday morning and stopped in Marietta to play Laser Tag and Whirly Ball. It was hilarious and so much fun. We then went to lunch at Applebee's once we arrived in Columbus. Then, we headed over to the coliseum to watch some of the sectionals competition before heading to the mall for a couple of hours. That night, everyone got all dressed up and went out to a WONDERFUL Japanese steakhouse for dinner. It was so nice and very, very good! After, we headed back to the hotel to get everyone settled in and lights out. We actually were in bed before 1AM which really surprised me!

On Saturday, we didn't have to leave the hotel until 11, so we all go to grab some extra sleep. We loaded up, headed to lunch at the Cracker Barrel, and then headed to the coliseum for the competition at 2:00. Our girls hit the floor at about 3:30 and nailed the routine. At about 5:30, we were crowned state champs. We did a lot of celebrating and picture taking and then headed for the bus. After a nice celebratory dinner at O'Charley's we arrived back to the school at about 11:30. It was an exhausting trip, but SO much fun! I'm already looking forward to next year!!

The kids are crazy here at school. It's like they already know that the Christmas buzz is right around the corner and they have gotten a jum start on it! They are so hyper; Mrs. Cagle and I just try to survive day to day. Some days are better than others, but all are exhausting here lately. My class is ahead in the Cents for Soldiers holiday campaign, which is awesome because we will receive a donut party if we win, and I will receive a gift card to a school supplies store which is very much needed these days!

I have gotten started on my Christmas shopping and even have several gifts already wrapped. I am proud of myself, because normally I don't get started until the day after Thanksgiving, so this is a first for me! I am ready to get my house all decorated for Christmas and my tree up. I really love Christmas and what it stands for.

I had strep throat last week and missed two days of school. It was yucky! I had not had that since I was a little kid and had forgotten how painful it is! I went to the doc and he put me on an anti-biotic which took care of it very quickly. I was thankful for that. I was glad to be back at school, because I can't stand being out. I feel like we get behind and that I miss a lot when I'm not there.

I'm looking forward to a calm week this week. I'm hoping to get some more Christmas shopping done! :)

Cheer Sectionals and Election Day

Saturday was Co-Ed Sectionals for Varsity. We beat 21 other teams to win FIRST PLACE!! It was an awesome day for Woodland. This will give us great placement for state which is really good. We will be leaving Friday morning at 9. We are going to play Laser Tag that afternoon and go out to a nice Japanese restaurant that night. Then on Saturday, we will all get our game faces on and go for Woodland's 4th cheerleading state championship! We are so excited and can't wait to go! Hopefully we will bring home a state championship...that would be awesome in my first year of coaching.

Today is Election Day which means that no students are at school. It is a Teacher Work Day, but I always enjoy these, because we get to go out to lunch. It's rare that we get to have social time over a good meal, so it's always really exciting! :) Our normal lunch routine is scarfing down our food while keeping an eye on 18 little bodies and usually having a couple spill something or bug you about when it's time to get their ice cream. Ingrid, I know that you can totally relate to this! :)

I haven't gone to vote yet, because the line was so long this morning that I would not have made it to work on time. I will be going after school today. It is such a historic day, and it makes me proud that I have the freedom to vote and let my voice be heard. I'm so thankful to live in America!

Trent just keeps getting bigger and bigger. He goes for his check-up today, and I'm anxious to find out how much he weighs. He was a pumpkin for Halloween, and he just really didn't know what to think about his costume. It was hilarious and we all laughed about it. He is the happiest baby, and he smiles ALL the time. He's very content, sleeps great, and is a joy to have in our family. He certainly came from out of nowhere and was a huge surprise to our family, but he has been the most wonderful little blessing in our lives. I thank God that he can turn difficult circumstances into the greatest blessings. I love that little boy, and I'm determined that his first word will be "Sissy".

GET OUT AND VOTE!

Last Competition and the Weekend...

We had our final competition on Saturday at Roswell High School. WE WON! The girls did awesome, and I'm so glad that the judges thought so too! It was a great way to end the season! No we have sectionals and state that we will go to with Varsity, but our season is done, so NO MORE LATE NIGHT PRACTICES! That's definitely the best part. I have really enjoyed coaching, but I'm ready for a break. I've missed my friends and family. I haven't got to spend as much time with them since we've been in season.

We had our Fall Festival at school on Friday night. It was a great success even though it had to be moved inside due to the rain. J and I had a booth/game, and it was a huge hit! My room mom did a great job organizing it! It was fun, but I was definitely very tired by the end of it. By the time it was said and done, I had been at school for about 13 hours that day. I was definitely ready to go home! I did buy a super cute purse for winter, and I'm super excited about that.

Saturday night, Rachel and I went out and she crashed at my place. We were definitely at the Waffle House at like 2 in the morning. There's really nothing like that! Haha! We had fun hanging out, and I'm having fun getting to know her. I believe that the Lord placed us in each other's lives at just the right time...when we needed each other the most.

This week should be kinda calm which is a huge plus. Friday night, I'm going trick or treating with Julie and the kids. Lauren is a witch, Lindy is a gypsy, and Chandler is Mario. They will be adorable as always I'm sure. Friday is also Pay Day, which is always a great day! :)

The Weekend

I had a great weekend! Rachel, Stacey, and I hung out in Kennesaw on Friday night and had a great time with many, many laughs. We all went home with new additions to our wardrobe, so that is always a good night! Saturday, we had a cheer competition at Gordon Central. My JV girls overcame some tough circumstances before they even hit the floor, yet they went out and put an AWESOME routine on the floor. I was so proud of them and proud to be their coach. My mom, dad, and college friend Ingrid came, and I was so glad to have them there. It meant so much to me that they came to support my girls. We have one more competition at Roswell this weekend, and then we will look forward to Sectionals and State with Varsity! Saturday night, Rachel came over and hung out at my place and we had a great time sitting around and having girl talk :). This weekend, we have plans to go out with friends, so I'm looking forward to that. She is a great friend, and I'm so thankful for her. God seems to always know when we need special friends in our lives.

School is going well so far this week, and Friday will be a big day. Book Character Day, Fall Party, and Fall Festival. Our Kindergarten team is dressing up as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I was nominated to be Snow White, so that should be pretty funny. I will post pictures when I can.

First Blog

Hey guys! I'm going to try this blogging thing. After my good friend Ingrid starting doing this, I thought it was a cool way to keep up with friends. I'm not great at keeping up with things like this, but I'm going to give it my best shot! :)

My mom and I took a trip to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg last weekend while I was on Fall Break. It was absolutely perfect weather! We had the most wonderful time shopping, eating, and giggling! It was a much needed trip, and I came back with much less cash that I went with! It was pretty crowded there, but that was to be expected this time of year. The leaves were absolutely gorgeous there. They are already starting to decorate for Christmas! It is always so pretty there at Christmas.

WHS Cheerleading is in full force! We have had two competitions thus far. We placed 2nd at Cartersville and 1st at Pepperall. We are practicing everyday as we still have two competitions left. This weekend we compete at Gordon Central, and I am so excited that some of my family and friends will be coming to support my girls. I hope we do as well as we did at our last competition. I could not have been a more proud coach at Pepperall. Our Varsity is doing great as well, and I am really looking forward to the trip to Columbus in a few weeks when we cheer them on at state! We're hoping for a FOURTH state championship! That would be awesome!

My students are coming along at school. I have already seen so much progress in so many of them. Their writing has absolutely amazed me. We have been writing, writing, and writing some more! It seems that progress is definitely being made. It's so cool to be a part of these children's lives and to see them grow throughout the year. They have such neat little personalities, and it is so true that they say the funniest things! They are so impressionable at this age, and I pray that I am good role model for them.

My apartment is all decorated for fall and looks so great. I have already been buying up Christmas decorations. I can't wait to decorate for that. I am going with a snowman theme, because I love them so much. My tree will be ALL snowmen! :)

I hope everyone is having a great week!