Is it already time?

I must say I've been completely blessed to have Walt home most of my summer. (ALMOST 2 whole MONTHS!) I can't believe it is already time for him to travel yet again. He will be leaving Monday, August 4th, for those of you that know me, you know this is MY BIRTHDAY....(insert sad face here.) He will be going to Houston, then Ponca City. I know it isn't an international assignment, but he will be venturing out on those in September (London) and October (Indonesia). I've just gotten so used to cooking every night and having him HOME. Gracie and I are so sad that he is getting ready to leave.......AGAIN. Guess we will have to make the weekend, extra wonderful! Come Monday morning, this is what I will wake up to....such a familiar sight.

It's Officially over

My summer came to a close.....today.
July 28-August 1 (Owasso JV Pom Camp)
August 4-August8 (Work week for Carnegie)
August 11th---First day of school

So....I decided I would create a little montage of some of the pictures from summer.....Enjoy!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Typical Tomboy?

Everyone that really knows me and Walt, knows that we are obsessed with Gracie Mae. I know I have dedicated several post to that little princess on this blog. But, the more I think about it, the more I realize I should not be calling her a princess, because she isn't. Out of all the dogs I could have possibly picked out, I think I picked out the one girl that is the ULTIMATE tomboy. If I put a bow in Gracie's hair, it is out within seconds. I love dressing her up, but it is a fight to get her in her clothes, when her cousin Riley and Aunt Phoebe (that would be Poco's dog and my mother's dog) come to visit...Gracie is ALWAYS the one beating up on them, (she mainly beats up on Phoebe because Phoebe is 1.) messing with her boyfriend Riley and 2.)Phoebe is getting attention from me, and I should only be giving attention to Gracie, and she absolutely HATES taking baths. When I say hates taking baths, I mean the second the bath-tub water is running, Gracie darts under the bed and gets right in the middle. It doesn't matter if the bath is for me, if I am washing my hair, Gracie will dart under the bed. Now unless there are visitors here, or I actually sleep late, (never) during the summer, Gracie and I usually wake up around 6:15ish, (right after Walt leaves for work) I go and run for about 30 minutes and then I pick up Gracie so we can go on a walk. This has to be Gracie's most favorite part of the day. The second I put on her leash she darts out the house and into the wet, dewy grass. I've honestly tried to teach her how to walk on the sidewalk, and she does this when we go for walks at night, (and the grass isn't wet), but when I take her for morning walks, she runs all up and down the grass. She chases the birds, she squats (and tries to make me think she is going to the bathroom) just so she can sniff in that spot a little longer, she runs after all the dogs that are caged in, (it's almost like she is saying, "Ha, look at me...I'm FREE!"), but if a sprinkler system is on she will purposely walk all the way around it so that the water does NOT spray on her. I love taking Gracie for walks, but I hate the outcome..She's STINKY and WET. I guess I should just settle with saying that I love that little Tomboy with all my heart.

I know you can't tell she is really dirty and wet after her walk, but she is....
I mean all you have to do is look at previous post, to see that Gracie is NOT
looking her best here.

Friendship

So, I totally meant to do this on May 22, but my sweet nephew Jack was born on the 21st of May and I was a little pre-occupied. Then, on June 22, I was in Daingerfield visiting my in-laws, so I was not around my computer....so NOW 2 months later I can finally blog about someone that I love so very dearly. I decided that I wanted to blog about this special someone on the day that she was actually born....now I know it isn't the MONTH she was born, but as you can tell, A LOT of thought went into this.
This special someone has been there for me through it all....break-ups, girl fights, stressing out over grades, throwing all of our clothes in our closet before our parents came to visit in college, late night Taco C runs, meeting Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America, running the bear trail..(ok...walking and running), SING, ski trips, Theta activities, fraternity parties, break-ups (some of us broke up numerous times..ha!), graduation, moving to different cities, moving to different states, talking to each other on the phone when we haven't seen each other in months, standing beside each other on our wedding day....what can I say...we have been through the most memorable times of our lives together.
God truly blessed me with you! Who would have ever thought that freshman year sitting in our Communication class we would turn out to be best friends? I know I didn't post about you on your birthday Katie, but that doesn't matter because you are special to me every day of the year. My life is richer because of you and I appreciate everything you have done for me. I am so thankful that our friendship continues to grow even though we are so far away from each other. You know you are the only person (besides my family) that I actually pick up the phone and call. (I hate talking on the phone.) Thank you for always being the friend that I can trust, cry to and talk to. You are the true definition of friendship and I love you!

You Know School Is About To Start When...

So... I officially have less than a month before school starts...depressing in a way...exciting in another. I'm excited because my principal has asked me to loop up with my kids. Now..this is different than most teachers...I'm not just looping up with 22 or so of my children...I am the Communication Skills teacher, which means I teach Reading, Writing and Language...which also means I am looping up with ALL 76 of my kids from last year!! So exciting!! I've never taught 4th grade...I'm a 3rd grade virgin...but...I'm about to embark on a new challenge. Here in Oklahoma we don't start at the end of August, we believe in starting at the beginning...so.. I report back to school August 4th (yes, that is my 26th birthday) and the kids report back August 11th. Here are some reasons why I know school is about to start:

1.) I go into the local teacher store and ALL the new teachers are in there buying everything they can think of...(they have A LOT to learn)

2.) Walt and I go to Reasors... they have crayons.. 5 for 1.00 so I buy 48 packs... "oh," the man says, "this only applies to the first 10 that you buy." (I ended up spending 30 dollars on crayons)

3.) My dining room is filled with over 1,000 library books broken up according to genres. (Thankfully, I have an amazing husband who understands why I must do this.)

4.)I've already started making posters for my ceiling... I do this because my children often look up for answers... well.. Voila...there they are.

5.) I've read every novel we are studying in 4th grade so I can become "familiar" with the text.

6.)I have already purchased the new "Mailbox" magazine Aug/Sept '08 Intermediate and already tabbed my new favorite management tips.

7.)All boys and girls summer clothes are on sale.

8.) Fall clothes are already out.

9.) You can buy Crayola markers for a 1.00 a piece

10.) My principal has already called me to make sure that I am preparing for next year.

Here are some pictures of what is going on in my house...because... I am about to be a FOURTH GRADE TEACHER!! For all you teachers out there that really, honestly LOVE teaching...have a wonderful time planning for the upcoming school year!

(p.s. You WILL learn something from some of my pics.)

Here is the beginning of my bench....I had to sand it down and everything...the "bear" of course is for Baylor...since I am surrounded by all these Okies.

Not even close to being done... will post a "final" pic later.....

All my books.. broken up according to genres of course!

My Crayons...that I "thought" were ALL on sale. Thank you Walt!

My literacy posters...I laminate these and place them on the ceiling...when it comes time for state testing, I take these down, and the students look up and "visualize" what was there.

Survey time

I've been pretty bad lately about the whole blogging thing. I think it is the fact that it is summer and I have actually been pretty busy lately. Just so you know I am in the process of choreographing routines for the Owasso JV Pom squad...I will be holding a week long camp July 28-August 1st from 9-4 everyday teaching them routines for the upcoming football season. So...with that said, I have moved all the furniture in my living room so that I can "dance" all day while Walt is at work. I know my neighbors think I am crazy, because I KNOW they can hear my music blasting! I promise I will get around to posting pictures from this past weekend, but right now I just wanted to take a break from my dancing (ha) and fill out some surveys that I saw on other people's blogs....(not necessarily people I am friends with either...that's right...I stalk!)
Survey One
One Word...
1. Where is your cell phone? desk
2. Significant other? supportive
3. Your hair? brown
4. Your mother? hero
5. Your father? absent
6. Your favorite thing? teaching
7. Your dream last night? school
8. Your favorite drink? wine
9. Your dream/goal? mom
10. Room you're in? office
11. Your hobby? traveling
12. Your fear? guns
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? international
14. Where were you last night? Borders
15. What you're not? rude
16. Muffins? banana
17. One of your wish list items? bike
18. Where you grew up? MP
19. What are you wearing? shirt
20. Your pets? Perfection
21. Your computer? slow
22. Your life? fabulous
23. Your mood? nervous
24. Missing someone? Jack
25. Your car? BMW
26. Something you're not wearing? socks
27. Favorite store? Anthropologie
28. Your summer? over
29. Your favorite color? green
30. Last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? today

Survey Two:
What were you doing ten years ago?
Ten years ago it was the summer before my junior year of high school. I took my best friend to the beach, had a boyfriend and drove a Cobalt Blue Honda Civic. I was living the dream...living the dream.

Things on my To-Do List today:
Walt can't stand to come home and have the house dirty...especially when I am not working! So...I need to
1.) Watch All My Children (my priorities are in order, aren't they?)
2.) Fold the laundry and put it away
3.) Clean the kitchen
4.)Learn another dance routine
5.) Make supper
6.) Love on my husband and my Gracie

What are some snacks you enjoy?
My mother got me started on these fruit chillers...AMAZING! Flava-Ice Popsicles, red apples, 100 calorie packs, anything chocolate.

What would you do if you were a millionaire?
I'd probably do what most people would do. Give to a mission that I believed in, buy myself a summer and a winter home, travel and help my family out if they needed it.

Name some of the places you've called home:
Mt. Pleasant, TX
Waco, TX
Plano, TX
Owasso, OK
Clearly I'm a Texas girl at heart.

What are some of your bad habits?
I constantly bite at my lip, I make awful faces when I dance, I never pick up my clothes once I throw them on the floor, I hate loading the dishes, I am very indecisive, I like to drive faster than the allowed limit, I only like listening to my music, I have a very serious problem with saying: "I was like....", I blow up when the yard isn't mowed just the way I like it.


What are some jobs you've held?
Cashier at my father's pharmacy
Cashier at the local gift shop in MP
3 and 4 year old afternoon day care teacher
3rd grade teacher
4th grade teacher

Who are you tagging?
ALL OF YOU!

3-Day Weekend

With Walt's family coming into town the day after the 4th, I haven't exactly been able to blog much about our 3 day, 4th of July weekend that we had.
On Thursday night, we had several people over to grill out. After we ate our yummy steak, we decided that we were going to play a game of Cranium. Why these people chose to play Cranium with Walt I will never know. I tried to warn them before hand that Walt doesn't necessarily have enough patience to play board games, and in between every turn he was up doing something and of course this annoyed the other competitors. Of course, when we won, they were even more frustrated because Walt wasn't giving his full attention. But seriously, who can beat Walt at a seriesof informational questions?

Corey and his date... they stayed at the start for most of the game

Brett really trying hard to figure out how we were winning

Friday, Walt and I went to one of our good friend's Shea's condo and grilled out once again. After we ate we all decided to go down to the river to watch the fireworks show. This show is put on by Sam Walton's (That would be the owner of Wal-Mart) sister. Man...does she do it up. It just so happened the Shea and Jill picked a perfect spot for us to watch fireworks...it was like they were going to fall on us! There was over 80,000 people at the river...and we were surrounded by all walks of life. It was great! We celebrated America's birthday with great food, great friends, and great fireworks.

The newlyweds enjoying the fireworks! We love Shea and Jill

Beth and Travis...adorable

Walt and Matt...gotta love Matt's patriotic outfit!

Me and the girls... obviously it is hot...my face is SHINY!

On Saturday, Walt's family came into town and believe it or not, I didn't take ANY pictures! We had so much fun though. We went to see Wall-e, I went with Walt's mother to get her hair done and we shopped, we grilled out hamburgers, Walt and I even took Tucker to Big Splash. Big Splash is like a miniature Hurricane Harbor...very miniature. I happened to run into 6 of my students there, and I felt very awkward because there I was standing in a bikini. I don't think it is time to start wearing a one piece, but if I am going to start running into my children, maybe I should have one handy?? I mean... it was kind of like they were looking at me in my bra and underwear... I felt strange.
Our 4th of July weekend was filled with excitement! This weekend we are off to the Rivers/Anderson wedding, Taste of Dallas and hanging out with Poco. I will have lots to talk about after this exciting adventure back to the greatest state in the U.S. of A... TEXAS!

Could it be?

People say as one gets older you start to act more and more like your mother..(father if you are a guy) I think I have skipped acting more like my mother and gone straight to acting like my grandmother. Now, don't get me wrong... I love my Nana more than anything in the world, but when I find myself doing things that she often does I can't help but wonder...Have I really grown up?

Just the other day Walt and I were doing yard work....I take that back, I was doing yard work, every time I looked up at Walt he was "acting" like he was fixing something on the weed eater.(He looked cute doing it though) After I was done with my fabulous mowing job I went on to wash down the windows, clean the rocking chairs and mop the front & back porch. That's when it occurred to me....this is what my grandmother used to do at my house and I thought she was crazy.

Seriously...mopping down the front and back porch? She knew what she was doing though because my porches look great!

I went straight from outside to cleaning the inside of my house. Of course, Walt conveniently had a friend come over so I found myself cleaning the entire house....alone. (He also conveniently left to go hit balls with his friend and then brought me home flowers as a thank you!) As I was cleaning the house I noticed myself doing somethings that my grandmother often does at her house too. Once I was done cleaning, I didn't want Walt sitting on the bed, (It was just made after all and he would mess it up)...and please don't sit on the couch (I really fluffed the pillows and made it look all nice) and once again these are all things that my Nan would normally say to us.

I think all three Wilson girls are turning into their Nana. When I went to visit Nichole her cleaning habits were just as bad as Nana's (that's a good thing), Poco has an obsession with her bedroom the way that Nana does and I have to do the outside of my house because I can make it look better than anyone else. (Nana is 76 and still does her own yard) And then there is my mother....she's turning into Nana and doesn't even realize it. (ha! ha! Momma!!) I guess it's a good thing that the original Wilson clan now has 4 Nana's running around....at least it is in 4 different houses!

You know the yard looks good!

Just a closer view

Weekend in Daingerfield

Walt and I were able to go home this weekend for some much needed family time. We only live about 4.5 hours away from our family, but we never can seem to find time to go home. We left Thursday night and returned home on Monday and although I had every intention of taking tons of pictures it didn't actually turn out that way. Going home to Daingerfield is always an experience....Walt lives in a town of 2,000 people and really the only "non-local" restaurant would be the McDonald's and the Subway located inside a convenience store.

On Friday we went to Longview and picked up Grandma. We went straight to Caddo Lake where we ate at this hole in the wall, (man, did they have good catfish) and then we went to the Caddo State Park and just took in nature. Grandma even made the comment, "How can you NOT believe in God after seeing this?" She is right, Caddo Lake was extremely beautiful and we had a great day together.

On Saturday Walt and I got up at the crack of dawn to watch Tucker play in the All-Star tournament. They lost their first game 15-1, but ended up winning their 2nd game, so they went in for another round in the tournament. Walt and I then left to go to Mt. Pleasant to see my Nana and Poppy.....and surprise, my MOMMA was there also. We didn't do much while we were there, but it was great catching up. Being home is so great because it is always so low-key.

Sunday we went to church, ate some mexican food at Two Senoritas, and then went out to the Daingerfield State Park, where Walt, Tucker and I rented a canoe. Bad idea... Walt was the only one that could actually canoe...but it was fun.

Tucker and Walt's mom are coming up here on Saturday and staying until Monday because they are flying out of Tulsa to go to Delaware. We have some fun things in store for them, and with it being 4th of July and all I know I will have plenty of pictures to post after this weekend.

On a side note... who is excited that DeAnna got rid of Jeremy? I know I am! I was still a little hurt after she let Graham go, but knowing that she got rid of Jeremy made it all better for me! I can't wait to see how the season finale turns out...my vote is for Jason...who are you rooting for?

Walt relaxing on the pier

Me and Grandma at the Park...isn't she adorable?

Me and Walt

The gorgeous trees

Me and Mom posing beside all the trees