A is for beautiful

in March she'll turn thirteen

2012-01-27T09:27:00.000-05:00

Last night at the dinner table Julianna started telling me some story about school that day. But wait. Let's back up and I'll set the scene for you. We've had our hands quite full this week with a two year old who already dislikes eating to some extent. To top it off, he's been sick with a virus of some sort and obviously has a sore throat because he hasn't hardly eaten a thing since

things that are necessary for a 2 year old with a 103 fever

2012-01-22T17:45:00.000-05:00

Orange popsicle Blanket Laundry basket

twenty seven months

2012-01-22T12:53:00.092-05:00

Dear Josh, Welcome to twenty seven months, Buddy! When you jump your feet finally leave the ground! Certainly that's something to celebrate! It was hilarious one night this past month when you cracked your own head on the coffee table. I think we had been laughing at Julianna after she had done something ridiculously silly and hurt herself and then you bumped your head right after that. I

the underside of joy

2012-01-19T08:38:00.017-05:00

source Pin It I cranked out my most recent book in three days. I had Monday off for the MLK Jr holiday and I spent most of the day reading despite the massive pile of school work I should have been doing. It was one of those books I couldn't put down. The Underside of Joy tells the story of Ella (a name I am quite partial to coincidentally), a woman unable to have children of her own,

he's listening

2012-01-18T09:36:00.000-05:00

I am not even joking when I tell you that my son looked at me this morning and said, totally straight-faced and in his best Taylor Swift voice, "Mama, why you gotta be so mean?" I didn't know if I should laugh or cry. Pin It

developmental stuff

2012-01-17T19:37:00.006-05:00

While my daughter has been busy losing her eighth and ninth teeth (or should that be tooth? for some reason it doesn't sound right) my son has been busy potty-training himself. I will admit that it hasn't quite been as easy with Joshua as it was with Jules, but he is more or less staying dry all day in the Big Boy Underwear he got for Christmas. So. Cross one goal off the 2012 list. Only 6

Why Women Need Fat

2012-01-12T21:56:00.002-05:00

So many people make New Year’s resolutions to lose weight or eat healthier and I am often one of those people. In fact, I think I’ve resolved to lose weight every year since I graduated from college. Now I think I understand why weight gain has been a problem for me and I’m glad that my body has held on to the necessary fat and DHA for my babies. My perspective has changed a bit since I just

and it's only Tuesday

2012-01-10T09:00:00.000-05:00

So far this week a student brought a bb gun to my classroom several students got me in trouble by being after school to "work on a project with Mrs. Tucker" and instead goofed off around the building my work laptop won't boot and needs system files repaired my cell phone stopped receiving texts What's next? On the other hand my son is pretty much daytime potty trained my parents voluntarily

this makes my heart happy

2012-01-08T11:30:00.001-05:00

stories

2012-01-06T21:27:00.000-05:00

Jonathan sings this song he calls "Old Josh Tucker" to Joshua every once in a while. At the end of one verse it says, "had a toothache in his heel" and tonight during bathtime Josh asked him to sing it. Jonathan asked Josh if he knew where his heel was and Josh happily replied, "in the mountains." ----- One morning this week on the way to school Josh was crying and whining about something or

last week in numbers

2012-01-02T07:06:00.000-05:00

11 games of Hedbanz played 14.87 miles run 7 spaghettio's cleaned out of my son's belly button, yes, HE PUT THEM IN HIS BELLY BUTTON 8 Harry Potter movies watched 1,413,782 Christmas decorations put away 156 m&m's eaten 5 hours spent on lesson plans 4 Nerf gun wars 1 gingerbread house assembled and 1 giant temper tantrum when the candy was taken away I hope this week is half as much fun

inspiration board

2012-01-01T10:25:00.002-05:00

I saw this over at Fitnessista and I thought it was a great idea. When I saw her post about it last year I kinda zipped past it and didn't think much about it, but this year when I read what she wrote... Well, just read it yourself: Pinterest is awesome and everything, but there’s something to be said about physically making the board and having it in a place where you’ll see it every day. I

in 2012 I will...

2011-12-26T13:56:00.000-05:00

potty train my son go on a rather expensive vacation with my hubs (sans kids) read 40 books run a half marathon spend more time playing games with my kids lose some weight get a new passport Rather ambitious, aren't I? What do you plan to do in 2012?

And runnin' runnin' and runnin' runnin'

2011-12-23T21:34:00.000-05:00

When my sister and I were growing up, if we ever had a little too much energy for my mom's liking she would often tell us to go run around the house a few times. Most of the time we took her advice and actually did it. We'd lace up our tennis shoes and head outside to literally circle the house several times no matter the temperature or time of day. As Julianna has gotten older I've caught

the kid would argue with a wall

2011-12-22T13:12:00.000-05:00

Josh: It's raining outside? Me: Yes, it is. Josh: It's raining? (Because he says everything no less than twice.) Me: Yes, Josh, it's raining. We get out of the car and put the hoods on our hoodies up and run towards the building. Josh: No, it's not. It's not raining.

twenty six months

2011-12-22T12:12:00.079-05:00

Dear Joshua, Today you are twenty-six months old. It's hard to believe that this is going to be your 3rd Christmas. I can remember very vividly dressing you in a red velour sleeper with a reindeer on the butt and laying you down asleep on your belly on the edge of the couch to take your picture with Julianna for the Christmas card. As Christmas approaches this week I'm totally looking forward

I'm bored! Let's take a survey!

2011-12-20T17:33:00.000-05:00

I've seen this survey posted in various places around the blogosphere and I'm bored so I thought I'd take a second and post it too. If you hate these kinds of things, feel free to click on. Or play along and post on your blog if you'd like. Merry Christmas! ----- 1. Eggnog or hot chocolate? I've actually never had eggnog, but I do love some hot chocolate. 2. Does Santa wrap presents or just

fourteen years

2011-12-19T09:26:00.000-05:00

How many of you can say that you went on your first date with your husband and brought your sister and her two friends along with you for the dinner portion of the evening? Yeah, that's what I thought. Not many. Well, fourteen years ago tonight my husband and I went on our first date. We were home from college on Christmas break and Jonathan drove all the way from Trinity to Clemmons (45

notes from Jules and Josh

2011-12-18T10:01:00.003-05:00

Dear Mamaw, Thank you for the advent house and Charlie Brown Christmas book. We love them! We fight over opening the next window in the advent house each day and we love singing along with Charlie Brown and his friends as they sing "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." Thank you for reading the story to us! We love you! Julianna and Joshua

actions don't always speak louder than words

2011-12-18T08:52:00.004-05:00

One night last week Jonathan and I did this Five Love Languages Assessment one night last week. We had read the book and taken the assassessment early in our marriage but I saw it on another blog recently and we decided to do it again. It was amazing to see the slight changes in our Love Languages. Here are my results: 11 Words of Affirmation 7 Quality Time 0 Receiving Gifts 6 Acts of Service

first round of Christmas down

2011-12-17T21:54:00.000-05:00

We spent the majority of the day today at my Mom and Dad's house celebrating Christmas with my Mom's family. There was lots of fun, plenty of family, and tons and tons of food. I made this Kahlua cake I found on Pinterest (follow me?) and it was delicious. Source Instead of exchanging gifts we purchased a few things for a family who has much less than we do and delivered the presents this

my door at school

2011-12-15T13:19:00.001-05:00

courtesy of an idea I saw on Pinterest

peace on earth and birthday cake

2011-12-14T21:20:00.000-05:00

In the car tonight Josh asked, "What did baby Jesus say?" After a moment of thought I finally decided to say, "I don't think he said anything. I think he just cried like all babies do." Josh asked, "Why he cry?" "Probably because he wanted someone to hold him." "He wanted his mommy to come back?" "Yes, he probably wanted his mommy and he might have been hungry." Joshua thought about this a

conversations over dinner

2011-12-13T21:21:00.000-05:00

A new girl joined Julianna's class earlier this week and I asked her tonight at dinner how she was liking it. After she answered I asked Jules which girl in her class she liked best and she said, "There are two. I like M*** and I***." So I said, "Okay. Now which boy do you like best?" to which she replied, "You mean which one do I want to kiss?" Um. Giant pause. Jonathan and I both were

"Measure my head please, Mama!"

2011-12-10T23:34:00.000-05:00

Wonder where he learned that?