Captured Echos: January-April Fun

We got back from New Zealand and Jeremy had to go straight back to work. I had a few more days off so I got to readjust to the time change and rest a little. All the while I prepared for Jana's surprise 30th birthday party.

On Sunday, January 13th, Amber, Beth and I ran the Hot Chocolate 5k. We had to go on Saturday the 12th to pick up our race packet. Jolynn and Emma went along and we celebrated Amber's birthday at Flying Biscuit before we picked up our race numbers. The next morning started pretty early. I was afraid it would be cold, but it turned out to be nice weather. We had lots of fun. Traffic was extremely bad that morning and we were pressed for time. We parked in one of the Braves' parking lots and then walked to where the old stadium used to be. Lines for the bathroom were outrageous but we all had to go so we stuck it out. We got to our corrals with a minute or two to spare before the race began. We all had different corrals because of the time we said we would finish the race. Amber and Beth ended up starting in the same corral and I ended up going to my correct one because I didn't want to get in trouble! The race was full of hills, which was pretty challenging but I enjoyed running through the streets of Atlanta. I saw them at the end of the race as the course crossed itself. After I finished, I stood at the finish line and cheered for Amber and Beth as they followed close behind. From the time I heard about the race, I was excited about the after party celebration. We were given a bowl with chocolate and all kinds of goodies that we could dip in the chocolate. There was a DJ who made the celebration lots of fun as we stood in lines to get pictures taken next to blow up things. The DJ even called up all the racers who had a birthday that day and guess what?! It was Amber's birthday so she got to go up on the stage and got to dance! It was amazing.

In January and February we also celebrated some birthdays in our family. We ended December with Corrine and started the year off with my aunt Ginny and my Paw-Paw. Then we continued through the month with Terren and Cary while February brought Aiden and Momma's b-days.

We got the girls these cars! They were so much fun to ride around on and pretty much everyone in the family enjoyed a ride on it before the end of the party!

Daddy loved wearing this at the party. This is where I get my sense of humor!

Momma and Aiden's birthdays are a day apart so we always celebrate them together too.

January and February were busy months with sports and friends. The Gym Dogs did great this year. It was fun to go to the meets again as a family and Jana joined us a few times too. Beth, Amber and I went painting after one of the Gym Dogs meets and had lots of fun with our cherry blossom trees. Valentines Day always sneaks up on me and surprises me with things. Every year I think, "I'm not going to get anything this year because these kids don't really like me much," and I am always overwhelmed by their kindness. I even got a random gift from a student a few weeks after Valentine's Day just because she wanted to give me something.

Our basketball season ended at the end of January but track started the next week so there wasn't much of a break. Our basketball team wasn't that talented this year but we had fun nonetheless. Track brought lots of refreshment because it was a change of pace. I enjoyed being outside with the kids. It was rainy and cold much of our season though so that wasn't too much fun. Since Jana's pregnant, I tried to make is as easy as I could for her. We did pretty well during our track season. We got 1st place in the Best of Barrow meet and 3rd in the League meet. I was extremely proud of the girls!

I was named teacher of the year in February. The process required lots of preparation. This year was the first year where the teachers weren't the only ones to vote on the winner. Instead, the top three vote getters got to fill out some paperwork on what they do that's so great. In addition, the three finalists were observed by the school governance team who is made up of parents, teachers, administrators, and businessmen. I was one of the three finalists and was overwhelmed because the other two teachers are both incredible at what they do. After a 30 minute observation of the three teachers, the team read the papers and decided upon a winner. Before track one day all the teachers met in the library for the announcement. I was extremely worried. Jeremy practiced with me and helped me with my reaction just to make sure I wouldn't cry if I didn't get it. I did though. The school gave me flowers and I got some sweet cards and encouraging words from people over the next week or so. My picture was even in the newspaper. I then spent two months writing and rewriting papers because all school winners go to the county for them to decide upon a county winner. From there the county winner goes to the state. We are currently in the process of waiting for the county to name the finalists who will observed and then chosen from.

I got some sweet cards after I won Teacher of the Year.

We celebrated some more birthdays in March and April. Yes, our family loves to celebrate birthdays!

Stacy's birthday was in March and Cindy and Jonathan's birthdays are in April.

Patton teaching Gavin how to shred papers after Sunday lunch

A month or so ago, we came home and saw survey tape on our fence so we knew something was wrong. We soon found our our fence wasn't actually on our property. Someone is buying the empty lot beside us and have plans to build a pool. Even though we didn't put up the fence, we got to pay for it to be moved. Although we offered to buy the land instead of move our fence, we were turned down and so the move began. Jeremy's dad came over and tore down the old fence on the side and front and put up this new pretty one.

Here's my completed teacher of the year paperwork!

I also got the crazy stomach flu that was terrible this year. I'm thankful I can say I'm better now, but that sure did take my energy for a while. My principal even had to send me home from school because I'm stubborn and came to school sick.

Field day is one of my favorite days of the school year. My students really get to see who I am on field day because I can wear "normal" clothes, put my hair up, and be active!