Great Ramblings!

Lilo and Stitch are finally free to roam the house! Lilo (Golden) is 3 and boy what a difference 3 makes. (Stitch is 4.) Now they follow me everywhere and take up residence right beside me.
B came home today and started reading her book - Junie B. Jones

M came home from school and started reading too! Yes, that is her feet propped "up" on the couch! This is her 17th book (that she finished shortly after this picture) of her 25 book yearly goal! She is determined to read 25 books by October 23! She will still read, but wants the freedom to pick and read what she wishes.

We went to the community Fall Festival at Baymeadows Community Church this weekend. We saw lots of school friends. This is my coteacher Liz's church. She was handling the pony rides.

After the Fall Festival we went to Panzones Italian restaurant. They are one of our new school business partners! We had great food there. Of course M can have no cheese, but she does like a pepperoni pizza with NO cheese! B eats her pepperoni pizza with cheese !

They both liked this "new" place to eat. It is where the old Pizza Palace was in Mandarin.

Ms. Deb (a 3rd grade teacher at our school) and M at the Fall Festival. Contrary to the above picture of M and B, M did have a great time!

B was so excited to see a lamb! They had all kinds of "small" animals out.

This was the good part of the weekend, hanging out, seeing friends, and eating good food. Meanwhile while all this was going on, I had a disaster of a project going on at school. It was a group project nightmare! Why do I do this again I ask myself? Anyway, a project that should have been completed Friday night, ended up being submitted Sunday night at 11:40- We'll see how that goes. I was definitely the ball on this one.

It always amazes me when I prepare to teach my 1st and 2nd graders in Sunday School how simple the message of God is to us. Sometimes we get all convoluted in our own thinking, and forget just how simple God's love and grace is. The verse this week was: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart" - (Proverbs 3:5) It talked about how God told Abram at 75 to pack up and move on out- Abram at 75 did what most of us do not- He simply listened to God and he obeyed. He didn't debate, weigh his options, or stall. God told Abram what to do, and he like an obedient child did exactly as God said. Why do we struggle, debate, or bargain for what we want with God? If we simply trust him with all our heart, he will listen and answer our prayers! Sometimes, we just need to slow down so we can talk to God and hear what he has to say!

With the holidays fast approaching, the stores are alive with decorations for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I told M and B the other day that I can remember as a child the excitement of going to the stores the day after Thanksgiving. That is when all the Christmas stuff came out. Now, here we are 3 months out, and it is already up!

On Sunday, when my parents stopped by (and I was a complete wreck with school chaos) I asked them why I ever thought I could do this now. They are always so positive when it comes to school, like I am just out for a bike ride or something. They never entertain how hard it is, only that the end is near. They have thought this way the entire time- At first it was like, well your almost done with these classes, then well you have a year behind you, and now 2 1/2 years later- you got this! My mom actually said, one day you will look back and think, I am glad I did that!" It wasn't that bad. (Just for laughs.. I don't feel like that now! As a matter of fact, there have been many times lately that I feel like I am nuts to even attempt this!) So, I am trusting God that this is going to be an awesome time. That these last two semesters of school will be over before I know it. I am trusting God that he is ready and willing to write that dissertation on school wide discipline. I am trusting God, and it feels so much better!

When I think of the things that have happened this year, I know he is taking care of me. I have a great partner at school, we have a great class of 32 students, M and B are doing great, Derek is not traveling, and dance is only 2 nights a week! I actually have three nights during the week to write! - So with that being said, it is off to write!