Happy 4 years to us!

4 years ago today....

I ate my daddy's french toast for breakfast.

I watched home movies with sister and mom.

I got my hair done.

I got my make-up done and hated it so I went to the church and did it myself.

I had my picture taken a thousand times.

I watched 8 beautiful bridesmaids pray for me.

I walked down the aisle.

I married the most wonderful man in the whole world.

...the marvelous things He has done

I love how the Lord can use anything to bring himself glory.

I have a friend who is going through a really tough time. She recently lost her husband. In the past few weeks, as I have come across an encouraging verse or song I'll send it her way. Well, this morning on...oh yes Facebook..... someone posted a verse.... it's one of my favorites.

"Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you with my victorious right hand."
Psalm 41:10

As I read this verse, I knew that it would be a great one to send my friend's way. She came to my classroom about an hour later tears streaming down her face thanking me for that verse. She said that it had been a tough morning and she needed that verse to claim more than ever.

This is not a post to puff myself up at all. What I love about this story is the fact that God can use dumb, silly things... like Facebook.... to comfort those He loves.



"I will thank you, LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done." Psalm 9:1

Lingerie Showers are the Best...especially when your sister is involved

As I began thinking about this...months ago....I knew I wanted it to be memorable. I also knew I wanted it to be different than any other lingerie shower so I knew I needed a theme. One day as I was driving it hit me....they're going to Mexico on their honeymoon so what better than to have a Fiesta! Thankfully Cinco De Mayo was recently so I was able to find all kinds of cute decorations!

The bride wore a sombreo and a chili pepper necklace while we drank punch from margarita glasses, ate mexican food, and listened to some hilarious spanish music on channel 735...thank you comcast for providing!

We had a house full of precious girls that made the afternoon so fun and memorable. A big Thank You to Anna for managing the games. I knew if Anna was in charge then they wouldn't be lame. :)

Sister ended up with a tooooon of things! She got the best selection of colors and styles. One game that I found that turned out to be a very practical idea was to have everyone bring a pair of panties that best describes them in Kacie's size. Kacie had to guess who brought what pair of panties and then she got to keep them all. Thank you google for such a great idea!

So sister...Lingerie Showers are really the best....especially when they're for you!

*I'll post some pictures soon!*

Let the Festivities Begin!

Sister is getting married a week from today!!! Holy cow.

Her lingerie shower is at my house this Sunday.

His mom is coming in Monday.

Bridesmaid's luncheon on Wednesday.

Thursday we're getting our nails done and finishing up final details.....and then the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.

Friday....game time!

so true...

Morning by morning I wake up to find
the power and comfort of God's hand in mine.
Season by season I watch him amazed, in
awe of the mystery of his perfect ways

CHORUS:
All I have need of his hand will provide.
He's always been faithful to me

I can't remember a trial or a pain he did
not recycle to bring me gain. I can't
remember one single regret in serving
God only and trusting his hand

CHORUS

This is my anthem, this is my song, the
theme of the stories I've heard for so long.

God has been faithful, he will be again.
His loving compassion, it knows no end.

*Sara Groves*

10 days?!

10 days left of school.

10 days until my sister becomes a Wilbur.



Really..... only 10 days?!




I can't believe this school year is almost over.

I can't believe my baby sister is fixing to get married.



Really...only 10 days?!

Oh May

The month of May has been craaaaaaaaaazy for us! I feel like every time I sit down to blog the title should be "whew... what a day" or "whew...what a weekend"... and here's why:

-weddings
-wedding showers
-helping plan/organize showers (baby and wedding)
-baby showers
-graduations
-graduation parties
-youth events
-end of the year craziness at school

Though I have loved every minute of this craziness, I feel like this May has been crazier than May 2006 (the month we got married.) My last day of school just happens to be sister and j's wedding day so come Saturday, May 29th....I'm not going to know what to do with myself. Oh wait, I do know what I will do:

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

Well... maybe sleep late and then go lay by the pool. Ah, man that sounds nice. So come one May 29th!

oh what a day

Oh what a day for sure. It all started when I was sitting at my desk having one of my students read to me out of their reading circle books. All of sudden I heard our fire alarm going off. I knew we were having a fire drill this morning, but I lost all track of time. Normally, I'm at the door ready with my emergency folder so when the alarm sounds, I can calmly tell my kids to line up.... otherwise it can turn into sob-fest 2010. Instead, this morning, I'm running toward the door trying to find my folder, yelling for my kids to line up and pushing them out the door. On top of this craziness we have to walk all the way around the building to get to our meeting spot. So after I get my kids out our emergency door and make sure they are all there, I realized that the alarm had been blaring for quite some time..... therefore we had to book it around the building to get to our spot. So the cars driving on 64 probably thought we had a real fire and were running for our lives. By the time we got to our meeting spot I was breathing hard and almost in a sweat. My kids thought it was funny...thankfully... I hadn't terrified them. We were then prepared for our tornado and earthquake drill that followed.


Is it summer yet?

Oh yea.... only 2 weeks. I can make it.


This morning I got a funny email from one of my parents. She explained to me that this morning her little girl was looking at a bird's nest with a baby bird inside. When it was time to go she said, "Bye baby bird, bye momma bird, bye Holy Spirit." Yep can't forget that Holy Spirit. Where this came from...I have no idea. Maybe because she was saying it in 3's? When we talk about the trinity we say in a very sing songy voice "God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit." This is also coming from the same sweetness that said that God would give her invisible powers when monsters are around. Yep, that baptist school theology is something else.

A school day with the sister

Today, my sister decided to come to school with me. She is getting her degree in Early Childhood Education just like I did. I thought it would be a good idea for her to come to school with me so I could go over the ins and outs of being a teacher and managing a classroom. You know... show her things that have been helpful to me that you don't learn until you're in your own classroom.

We had a full morning of leaning activities, recess, lunch, and of course nap time. After showing her a few things, I began to get lesson plans ready for next week. Before I knew it, sister had spread herself on the floor by my desk (the floor is at least carpeted) and she fell asleep. Now I'm not talking simply resting her eyes. She was body twitching...dead out. I guess we wore her out! Hopefully she can now appreciate why I go to bed fairly early every night.

So sister... I so enjoyed having you in my classroom today. You will be a great teacher. I am jealous you got a nap and I didn't though. Hopefully our stir crazy kids haven't made you change your mind about going into education. It really is a lot of fun. Even nap time...as you now know.

only a girl

We had a couple of spare minutes and since it is so nice outside today I let my kids run around outside before it was our "official" recess time. I was having them run, skip, hop, etc. to our school sign and then come back to me. I noticed one of my little girls wasn't hopping like I asked her to so I said, "M, you aren't hopping." She looked at me so seriously and said, "But Mrs. Jerkins, if I hop all of my barrettes will fall out." How silly of me not to have considered how our activity would have affected her hair.

whew...what a weekend

This past weekend was jammed packed! We had our ReFuel weekend with ours kids Friday and Saturday. I had a funeral to go to Saturday morning, Kacie had a shower Saturday afternoon, date night with hubs on Saturday night, church Sunday morning, and then 2 mother's day functions Sunday afternoon and evening. It was jammed pack indeed, but jammed pack with my favorite people!

ReFuel Weekend:
Our youth and leaders met at the church at 7:00 on Friday night. We had a worship service led by the Daniel Ford band and Luke Saunders. It was an awesome time and something we will definitely have to do again soon. Then at 9:30 the girls went to spend the night at one house and the boys at another. Then the boys got up Saturday and went to play paintball. The girls got up and we went and got manis and pedis. Then we all met back up at the church for lunch. It really was a refueling weekend.

Funeral:
A friend of mine at work...her husband passed away so I slipped away after my pedicure and went to the funeral. One great reminder from this experience is that Jesus truly is our only hope.

Kacie's Shower:
Her showers just get better and better. This was no exception. The food was delicious, the people were precious, and my sister and J got some great gifts. One idea that I loved was that when you walked in the front door she had a small table set up for you to write a note of encouragement. Then you were to put it in an envelop and address it to yourself, but not seal the envelope. The envelopes were given to Kacie at the end of the shower. That way Kacie was able to read the notes of encouragement and already had the envelopes addressed for her Thank You cards. Genius!




Date night:
We had a rare night of nothing to do so we decided to go on a date. We have a ton of gift cards... being a teacher definitely has it's benefits... and we hardly have time to use them. Being the suckers for mexican food that we are... we headed to On the Border. It was a night of good food, a hot date, and free dessert (because one of the waiters yelled a cuss word when he hurt himself and all the tables in our section heard it.) Too bad we had already finished a dessert that we had paid for.

Mother's Day:
Regardless of the craziness that can come with having 2 families to split your time with, I wouldn't change anything because we have 2 great families. We are so blessed. I have 2 great mommas that love and support us unconditionally. 2 mommas that would drop everything to help us. 2 mommas that give selflessly. Yep, they're the best!

The Personalized Peacock

Two of my friends have started this adorable business. The have so many cute things to choose from! You will not be disappointed!
Click here and check them out at!

Summer's Coming Party

Last night we had our Summer's Coming Party at church with our youth. Don't you like our creative name? The weather was perfect, the food was delicious, the speaker was good looking, and the kids were awesome. Here are some pictures:

Happy Birthday, Mags!

My sweet Mags is 5 today. I can’t believe it! I feel like I was just typing out my blog post in honor of her 4^th birthday. Sunday at lunch she was jumping up and down and said, “Candace, this is the last Sunday that I’ll be 4!” Where do the years go? I feel like I was just sitting in the floor trying to get her to walk to me and now she’s turning 5 and is on her way to kindergarten!

Oh my sweet Maggie Ann. You are one of my favorite people. Your funny laugh, silly smiles, and conversations thrill my heart. You’re the best airplane buddy too because you have fun movies and plenty of snacks. :)

I wish you could stay little forever. But I look forward to watching you grow, knowing that God has big things in store for you. We love you sooooooooooooooooooo much!

Cinco de Mayo is coming....

Ok, I know Cinco de Mayo is a holiday that most Americans don't celebrate unless you are from Mexico.... however the ladies that I work with decided that we are having our first annual Cinco de Mayo lunch celebration on Wednesday......... a.k.a. A good excuse to eat some Mexican food!

I provided a sign-up sheet and decided that I would fix whatever no one else wanted to. I just listed 2 entrees, 3 sides, and 2 desserts. One person signed up for one of the entrees, but no one seemed brave enough to attempt the other entree so I decided I'd be a trooper and make something.

Just a side note... D and I love Mexican food. In fact, a lot of what I make at home is mexicanishy... yes, I think I just made that word up.

So I need your help! I'm looking for a really good new recipe for Wednesday. So if you have an excellent Mexican entree recipe please send it my way. Now as a fair warning...if it has weird ingredients then I won't even attempt it. So please offer recipes that are easy and that I can pronounce. Thanks!

HEAVENLY!!!

Last night we had Family Night at our church. It's a good excuse once a month to get together, eat, hear a great devotion by a pretty hot guy, and hang out. My friend, Rhonda, brought this heavenly dessert. We're having people over tonight and you better believe I am whipping up my own batch!

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars

8 oz. cream cheese

1/2 c. sugar

1 egg

1 tube chocolate chip cookie dough

Spread half of cookie dough in bottom of greased 8 X 8 pan. Soften cream cheese & mix together with egg & sugar til smooth.Pour over cookie dough. Crumble remaining cookie dough on top.Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. Can double recipe & bake in a 9 X 13 pan. Can also use regular size muffin tins, with cupcake liners (Still doubled the recipe). Press half of cookie dough in bottom of cupcake liners. Fill 2/3 full with cream cheese mixture & crumble remaining cookie dough on top.




Let me know if you like them as much as I do!