Merry Christmas!

How deep the Father's love that He should send his Son among us! I pray you and your family will have a blessed day reveling in the knowledge of the Father's love for us!

Luke 2:1-20

The Birth of Jesus Christ

 ¹ In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. ² This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³And all went to be registered, each to his own town. ⁴ And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, ⁵ to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. ⁶ And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. ⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels

 ⁸ And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. ¹⁰ And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹²And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

 ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” ¹⁵ When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶ And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. ¹⁷ And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. ¹⁸ And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. ²⁰ And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

In a stable

I'm not sure how I stumbled upon this blog, but I just love what Missy wrote last week. Please go on over and read what she has to say about Christmas and living in a fallen world. I couldn't say it any better!

In a stable

A Charlie Brown Christmas

I don't care how old I get, I still enjoy watching A Charlie Brown Christmas every year. Here are two of my favorite scenes.

Midweek Elsie! Cuz everybody needs a little Elsie to cheer them up. :o)

She sleeps in the weirdest positions. Seriously. How is this even comfortable? 

A walk into my past

If you were to take a walk into my past about 15 years ago, you would have found that my life revolved around The School of Dance Arts and the South Carolina Theatre. By my Senior year, I was there 6 out of 7 days, and many days it was literally over 10 hours that I might have been there. You might say I was very passionate about ballet. It had always been a childhood dream of mine. I remember being four and watching the Nutcracker with my parents. I was enthralled with the entire thing and informed my mom that I would be on that stage one day. And yes, CHECK,  that childhood dream was fulfilled. I can't explain it, dance was and has always just been part of me and even today, I still get excited when I'm able to dance. I even took ballet with me to Africa. Teaching there was so much fun, and I even found time to take a few classes of my own. Fast forward three years back from Africa, and I'm still wanting to dance. This time, I decided we needed ballet classes in Dillon. I knew that our Wellness Center had the facilities to offer a ballet class. So, this past August, I marched myself down there and proposed to them that they needed to offer ballet classes and they needed me to teach them. AND. Success! We have now had three fun classes, and they keep getting easier and easier to teach. I was pretty nervous at first, since it had been a while. Now that I'm getting into the swing of things, I'm enjoying have dance back in my life. Maybe I'll actually get back in shape . . . one can only hope!      

Hey, look! It's me! My classes!

Our humble studio!

And, no, I'm not MIA!

Umm, somehow the last month slid by and I haven't managed to find time to blog. I'm still humbled that people are reading. Really, am I that interesting? What have I done the last month, you might ask? Simple. Go to school, come home and collapse, go to bed, wake up, and repeat. Apparently I have it on good authority that I complain every year can't remember how hard it is to transition a new class. Basically, I'm just now getting into the swing of things where I don't fall asleep from 5 to 7 every evening. So, hopefully you'll hear from me more often.

I'm really enjoying our new school year. We have a new headmaster, and I'm pleased to say that he's doing a great job. I've been really impressed! Not to mention the new lunch program he introduced. We now have a full lunch program at school, and I may or may not have gained some pounds from this fabulous cooking. Plus since it's just me at home, it certainly helps when I can have my main meal prepared by someone else. Especially when all I want to do is sleep when I get home (see above paragraph).

I have more to say about what's been going on in my life, but I'll end with my hall bulletin board. Not that I'm bragging, but I thought it turned out pretty well this year! 

Plus, here's some really cute photos of ELSIE getting into trouble!

Check out her tail! Apparently she is scared of the plastic bag in the corner. Silly cat!

And here we are proving that, yes, the shelf high above the washer/dryer can in fact be conquered!

Heather vs. the NC DMV

***** In which Heather admits that she really doesn't have it together (but we knew that didn't we?) *****

Sooooo, since I moved to the other Carolina, I had to deal with all the fun things you get to do when you move states. Like frequent the DMV and play the fun game of how does this state do things (and why can't they do it like South Carolina?). Really. It's a fun game. Really, it can be. I'm sure it is. At least that's what I'm telling myself. However, still hesitant that I may not have won this game, I'll share my fun experiences.

1) Two trips to the drivers license office (not to be confused with the SC DMV where you can accomplish more than one thing). Oh, did I mention that these offices are in another town 20 miles away? Yeah, my town is so small it doesn't have one.

Trip one: realize the wait is over two hours and decide to come back.

Trip two: arrive at 8:45, wait in line, get number, number is called before one can even sit down, pass info to helpful clerk (no, really - the employees here were extremely nice and helpful!), take vision and street signs test, take written test (you know the one you barely passed as a teenager - or was that just me), pass with flying colors only because of the skimming you did the night before, pay money, take picture, leave without license.

Yeah, you read that correct. They mail it to you 5 to 20 days later. In which comes the other part of this fun story.

2) Four trips to the license plate office (which of course is nowhere near the driver's license office).

Trip one: Drive to office, discover that they really won't give you a plate until you have your license in your hand there with you. Walk to car. Have major meltdown for no reason since I knew that.

Trip two and three: Drive to office happy that license is now in hand, wait in line, proceed with all paperwork and get ready to pay. Discover that all checks have been used. Ask desperately what to do since I really didn't want to drive home and back for checks. Helpful clerk suggests ATM around corner. Leave DMV, walk around corner, no ATM, get lost, go back to car, circle Lumberton like five times (ok, maybe that's a slight exaggeration), get upset, call co-worker who lives here, find bank, no ATM, find another bank, bank 1 directs to, get cash, drive back to DMV, go back inside, line has now tripled, wait more, finally my turn, get upset internally cuz of a misheard amount and maybe not enough cash, God is gracious, enough cash, find out massive amount of cash is welcome to NC fee (my interpretation) and taxes will come in three months, get tag, leave office, have massive meltdown in car (in which I petition God that I really can't handle being single anymore).

Trip Four: DMV sends me a letter, they gave me the wrong tag, please call, call and find out tag needs to be returned, drive to office, unscrew tag, wait in line, proceed with more computer stuff, scrape sticker off tag, print new info, new tag and correct sticker, screw tag back in and feel satisfied that it might all be over.

I'm still waiting and hoping that maybe that was the end of it all and maybe, just maybe I'm a NC resident full and clear.

Now some of you ladies out there may be of the type that you do this kind of stuff, not your husband. That's fine. And all this could have happened to you, too. I guess I was just feeling overwhelmed and very alone at the time. Pray for me as I have been feeling the vast aloneness of being single. Not the aloneness of not having an amazing God to take care of me and not that I don't have a wonderful family and friends. More of the aloneness of no companionship to accompany me home and chat with over dinner and have discussions in the evening. I really miss having companionship in the evenings and having someone I can bounce things off of without feeling like I'm bothering them or being too burdensome. It's a hard balance I've found. But mostly I've just discovered that I'm never moving to another state . . . not unless I have a man to do all of this for me!

Umm, where did the summer go?

WOW! Is is really the middle of July? Have I really not posted in almost two months. Could anybody help me identify where the past weeks have gone? I feel so humbled because people are still actually reading this - and I don't even think they're related to me :o)

Anyway, here's a quick recap of what's gone on the past few weeks:

~ School ended

~ I moved out of the Kelly's home

~ I moved into my brand new (rented) home - it's my first real house so stay tuned for more about that

Moving is full time work, so while I haven't actually been working, I have. I'm using that as my excuse for not posting and I'm sticking to it!

There's only three more weeks till I start back at school. My brain is slowly shifting gears for that. We have a new headmaster and while I'm excited to work for him (esp. since I think he's going to be great for our school), there's always that nervous anticipation of trying to figure out what he expects of his teachers, etc.

I also have some thing else up my sleeve for the new school year and if it comes to fruition, I'll be sure to share. I'll also plan on finishing up posting about our cruise. So, Lord willing, stay tuned for some more posts soon.

Thanks for hanging with me!

Cruisin'

My friend Carrie and I finally took a long planned and awaited cruise two weeks ago. Literally, we had been talking about this for over five years. Anyway, we left out of Charleston and sailed to the Bahamas and back. It was a nice trip. Actually, I'd be fine if I could do this every year, but alas, the budget does not allow for that! So here are some pictures and stories from Day 1:

We drove to Charleston on Saturday morning and arrived at the pier at 12:30. I was highly impressed at how efficient the parking process was. After making sure we were not security threats (and had all our documents), we left our luggage with porters to be carried on ship for us. After parking my car, we then proceeded to a shuttle bus that took us to the terminal. Once at the terminal, we went through more security and then checked in. We were given a card that was our key and way to pay for anything on board. This card also had a photo of me and anytime I left the ship it was logged and then when I came back on board, it was also logged. I thought that it was a neat way to make sure all the correct people are on board.

After checking out our room (which had two portholes), we went to find some lunch and do some exploring. Man these ships are huge! It took me most of the cruise to figure out all the decks and where everything was.

We stayed up on deck for departure. How exciting it was to be sailing out into the ocean. I think I might have inherited some of my Navy dad's genes because I just loved the feel of being completely surrounded by water. It was a bit windy, but a great start to a fun trip!

Leaving Charleston:

Here's our towel critter for the day: We think it's a seal.

Stay tuned for day 2: "Fun" day at sea!

And another chapter closes . . .

Tonight it just occurred to me that I'm closing one more year of teaching. One more year of blessing and being blessed by six/seven year olds. How can tomorrow be the last day of school? Wasn't I just getting to know them and sharing my expectations for first grade? Wasn't yesterday open house? This year seemed to go by fast. It's had its ups and downs like every year. We've shared the joys of really "getting it" in academics and we've shared sorrows of sad things that happened in our life. Tomorrow I have to say goodbye to them. I'm sad, but I won't deny them the excitement of growing older and maturing and learning new things. Today I had the fortunate privilege of being told that I had been a blessing to someone's child and they were thankful they were in my class. Wow. How humbling is that, that God used me to further one more child in academics and spirituality. Sometimes throughout the busyness of ending a school year, I forget to sit and count my blessings. I'm gonna miss this class like I do every year, but I'm excited to see what new challenges and experiences God will bring with a new class in August.

I can hardly believe that with the closing of this year begins the opening of my tenth year of teaching. TEN YEARS. How exactly can I be that old? I currently have more teaching experience behind me that the teacher I was under for student teaching. Could I have the kind of wisdom I saw in her? Am I looked up as a role model? I don't know . . . all I know is that I fail and that I'm a sinner saved by grace and that I need His help/grace daily. I would not have ever thought I would be back in Dillon teaching year ten. I did a quick estimate and realized that God has allowed me to touch over 135 children in the past nine years. What a huge task to be accountable for. May God continue to be with me in the future! Not only that, but next year marks my very first graduating class. DUDE . . . now I feel old! :) I can't wait to see what's going to happen in the future, and I'm glad to rest in the security of knowing my Jesus has the best future planned for me and my students.

Oh speaking of blessings, have you heard Laura Story's latest song, Blessings? What an encouraging message this song has.

Hey, hopefully, I'll have pics up of my trip soon!!!! Excited yet?!

What I've been up to and why I haven't posted lately:

Can you guess?

If Only . . .

I was thinking about "if only(ies)" today. Now, my solid theological training (thanks Dad and Mom!) tells me that God doesn't work that way and He's got my future planned. But sometimes, it's fun to think about if only . . . .

If only I was married . . . I'd see my sin more. :)

If only I was a mommy . . . I'd have sweet babies of my own to cuddle (and discipline!)

If only I could homeschool my children . . . I'd get to unveil the mysteries of teaching more than one grade at a time.

If only I could adopt babies from Africa . . . they need mommies and daddies, too

If only I could visit Uganda again . . . I'd move there if I could commute home for weekends, holidays, and summer vacation.

If only I could live as a missionary wife in a closed country . . . yeah, I know this one isn't normal. I think my mom must pray daily for me to be single just to avoid this one. Just kidding Mom!

If only I could realize how blessed I am even though I don't have these things I "want". They would be the top of my "bucket list", but I'm glad to rest in the assurance that my heavenly Father knows what I need and will give me exactly what is best for me each moment.

Delight yourself also in the LORD,And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

Reason 513 why you really don't want to know what your first grader tells the teacher:

"I love roaches to kill. I have some at my house I kill."

Forgiveness and Peacemaking

So I have devotions this week in our morning staff meetings and while I know what I want to share, my thoughts are still kinda jumbled. Fortunately I have until Wednesday to get it together! Therefore, you guys are my guinea pigs.

Don't you just "hate" it when God is trying to get something across to you and everywhere you go, you're getting the same message. Yeah, me too. Right now God's been teaching me that we are not our own, we are dependent on God. We must deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow. I'm learning that taking up our cross does not mean dealing with those annoying people in our lives and being long-suffering. It means revealing our sinful selves, giving away our pride and selfishness and being kind and gracious instead. Man, that's tough! Being sanctified is not always easy, but it does have a sense of satisfaction that I am growing more like Christ. Which, of course, is the ultimate goal.

Now you may be wondering what all this has to do with forgiveness and peacemaking. Obviously, when people hurt us, we are called to forgive. Forgiveness is also tough, but we are called to do so because otherwise it will eat us on the inside. On the flip side, once we forgive them we have to be peacemakers as well. Sometimes I don't want to do the right thing, but I know this is what is expected of me as a believer. I teach this concept to my first graders and they really struggle with this. Why should they be nice back to someone who has been mean to them? As the teacher, their "petty" little quarrels seem so easy to overlook, but I bet God sees the same with our disagreements. So this week, let's work on giving away our pride and being gracious and kind instead. I shall leave you with the young peacemaker poem and a verse:

Good thought, hurt you not, gossip never, friends forever

When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. Mark 8:34

Every Life Has a Story

Saw this on Tara Barthel's blog (check her out here - I highly recommend this blog), and I had to share. Everyone does have a story and we do need to be compassionate to all because we really don't know what they are going through.

A few cute sayings . . .

Here are two cute things some of my first graders have said this week:

Miss Peeler, if you ever come way out in the country where I live you will see wild hogs. The kind with big tusks. Them are dangerous. You need to stay away from them. (Yeah, apparently we still need to work on grammar here in first grade!) Same child also said that their accent was so country that they wrote are instead of our.

One of our spelling words this week is bridle. One of my students asked what that was, and since I have another student who rides horses, I asked that child if he would like to explain to the class what it was. He grinned and put his hands together and said proudly, " Well, do you know about a steering wheel in a car? That's what a bridle is for a horse." He then went into great detail about how it worked.

I just loved it! Having students teach other students and share their knowledge is so awesome. It definitely encourages them in their quest of learning.

Looking ahead to this weekend, I'm hosting my discipleship girls for lunch on Saturday. I hope that, not only do they come, but they enjoy themselves. I question myself. Why would they want to hang out with me. I'm not exactly "cool". Then I remind myself of the previous post and where my security lies. Then I worry some more. I'll let you know how it goes. Pray for me!

Where does your security come from?

The month of March just flew by. I knew it was going to be really busy, but somehow, it passed by in a blur. We had Stanford testing to get through and then the Praise Concert at school. The entire school did an amazing job glorifying our Saviour!

Anyway, I often have to remind myself that my security comes from Jesus not _______ (fill in the blank). I also know that my security in who I am does not come from first graders. For example, at recess this week:

"Miss Peeler, can you do cartwheels?"

My response: Not any more

"Why, are you too large?"

Um no, do you think I am?

YES was the emphatic response. In the child's defense, they thought they were too big and they weighed 75 pounds. So logically I must be too large as well!

Then again today:

You must know that I have ladybugs all over my class door with each child's name on one. Miss Peeler, you need to put your name on the big lady bug in the center. We know it's you cuz it's so big, it's squashing the flower it's on.

I joked to some coworkers that while I don't think I've gained any weight, but kids must think that I have. They in kind responded that my kids must have gotten the words tall and large mixed up. Let's hope so!

I'm so thankful that my security lies in Christ, and I don't have to prove myself to anyone but him. And of course in him, I'm completely accepted. Praise God for that!

A trip to the farm!

Ok, so while my life in Africa proved that I may not actually be cut out for rural life (translation: I like my cushy life in the "city' - such as you can call Dillon), I definitely enjoy being around animals. Anyway, two weeks ago (yeah, I'm a little behind on my blogging), I was invited over to spend some time on a dear friend's farm. They have three precious children who gave me a great tour of all their animals. They had just gotten in a batch of baby turkeys. Oh my goodness, how cute were they - not even a week old. Sadly, their fate is not a good one for them, but a good one for us!

You can't really see the little guy that I'm holding. So, here's a close-up of the baby turkeys!

Chickens! Farm Cats! Oh the joys of being on a farm. Kinda reminded me of being back in Africa. Only here, I know the animals don't carry weird diseases.

A very shy donkey, and a not so shy goat. I think he definitely tried to make a meal out of my shirt at one point.

Now I got to meet this sweet little girl one day after she was born a few weeks ago. My goodness baby goats are so soft and sweet.

I couldn't resist a picture of the guinea fowl. They don't actually do anything except eat bugs, but hey, that's important, too! So by the end of my time, I had thoroughly enjoyed being a part of farm life again, but definitely glad that I could leave them there.

Apple-Cinnamon Scones

My mother is usually the one who blogs on recipes, but I just tried this recipe I found on the internet (with a few tweaks of my own) and I just had to share. I've never actually made scones, and not only was this recipe super easy, but really yummy! Enjoy!

Apple Cinnamon Scones

Scones:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup white sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup butter, chilled

1 apple - peeled, cored and shredded

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup milk

Topping:

2 tablespoons milk

2 tablespoons white sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1) Measure flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Cut in butter and mix until crumbly. Add shredded apple (yes, I learned you really can grate apple), cinnamon, and milk. Stir to form a soft dough.

2) Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead gently 8 to 10 times. Pat into two rectangles on greased and floured baking sheet. Dough will be slightly sticky, extra flour helps. Brush tops with milk and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixture. Score each into six triangles.

3) Bake at 425 for 15 minutes or until brown and risen.

Silly Kitty Positions

I just found this and thought it was hysterical . . . and so true. I've seen Elsie in most of these positions! I think my favorite two are The Loaf and The Overhang. Although, I definitely see The Rump Stretch and the Flop quite a bit.

Return of the Quad Mitten Defence!

Could it be Spring?

Today when I stepped out the door to go to church, I noticed something that wasn't there yesterday:

SIGNS OF SPRING!!!!!

I love daffodils and to discover that I had some in my flowerbeds was an awesome start to my Sunday. I walked around the yard after church (the weather was awesome at 80 degrees!) and began looking for more signs of spring. They are definitely starting to show (I saw an orange butterfly!) and that makes for a happy Heather. I think that this time of year might just be my favorite season. The newness of plants, the coming of warm weather, it just makes for a happy time. As you can see, where just two months ago I had a snow man, I now have flowers. Isn't God good to send Spring?

On a funny side note, someone else is apparently not too happy to see spring:

Yes, Elsie discovered this winter that the space heater was warm. Several times I've found her cuddled near it. So imagine my surprise tonight when I discovered her asleep next to the UNPLUGGED heater. Well, so sorry kitty, but 80 degree days do not call for turned on heaters! Hopefully we won't need it again until next winter (Lord willing!).

Have you ever felt that sometimes God asks too much of you? I've been pondering this lately because (in my little mind) it seems like nothing is going like I want it. My closest friends are moving away, no future spouse in the works, no housemate. It seems like God has a life of eternal loneliness set aside for me. I look around, everyone else's life seems to be "complete". Why not mine? But yet, I realize, other's lives aren't as "complete" as they they desire. They too, are dealing with, "Why would God ask this of me?". While the human in me wants to be cast down, I know that during times of trouble, I have to hold strong to my Rock. Then when I look back, I will see the beautiful picture that God is weaving of my life. Dr. Brown shared this devotion in church last night, and I'm convinced that it was put on his heart just so I could hear and gain encouragement. It's from Feb. 20 of Spurgeon's Morning and Evening.

“God, that comforteth those that are cast down.”

2 Corinthians 7:6

And who comforteth like him? Go to some poor, melancholy, distressed child of God; tell him sweet promises, and whisper in his ear choice words of comfort; he is like the deaf adder, he listens not to the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely. He is drinking gall and wormwood, and comfort him as you may, it will be only a note or two of mournful resignation that you will get from him; you will bring forth no psalms of praise, no hallelujahs, no joyful sonnets. But let God come to his child, let him lift up his countenance, and the mourner’s eyes glisten with hope. Do you not hear him sing—

“'Tis paradise, if thou art here; If thou depart, 'tis hell?”

You could not have cheered him: but the Lord has done it; “He is the God of all comfort.” There is no balm in Gilead, but there is balm in God. There is no physician among the creatures, but the Creator is Jehovah-rophi. It is marvellous how one sweet word of God will make whole songs for Christians. One word of God is like a piece of gold, and the Christian is the gold beater, and can hammer that promise out for whole weeks. So, then, poor Christian, thou needest not sit down in despair. Go to the Comforter, and ask him to give thee consolation. Thou art a poor dry well. You have heard it said, that when a pump is dry, you must pour water down it first of all, and then you will get water, and so, Christian, when thou art dry, go to God, ask him to shed abroad his joy in thy heart, and then thy joy shall be full. Do not go to earthly acquaintances, for you will find them Job’s comforters after all; but go first and foremost to thy “God, that comforteth those that are cast down,” and you will soon say, “In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.”

National Singles Awareness Day

Monday is Valentines Day. I've tried several times to link to this cute post from Radical Womanhood. I just love Carolyn McCulley had to say. So here's the link to give proper credit and here's the post:

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Countdown to National Singles Awareness Day

With National Singles Awareness Day rapidly approaching (Valentine's Day to the rest of the lovey-dovey world), it's time to batten down the hatches around our singleton hearts. Here are some time-tested survival tips from a grizzled veteran:

• Step one: Avoid all stores until February 16 (give the retailers time to take down all that red and pink festooning their stores). If necessary, eat all your canned food first but do not, I repeat, DO NOT go into grocery stores for the next week.
• Step two: Watch only action films or documentaries until late February. This is the only acceptable time of year to banish Jane Austen.
• Step three: Follow the example of one of my friends who brushes up on her literary skills each year by composing sarcastic Valentine's Day haiku poems. ("Eat chocolate now, Eat chocolate tomorrow, Squeeze into pants soon." Or, "Flowers not for me, No candy for me either, Will steal my colleague's.")
• Step four: Buy flowers for yourself a day or two ahead of time, to save money. Every time you pass them, say out loud: "Oh, how beautiful! You shouldn't have!"
• Step five: Repeat after me, "Chocolate is NOT the solution to all my problems."
• Step six: Plan to bless someone else. After all, this holiday is not about you anyway.
• Step seven: Skip the faux celebrations and consolation events and schedule a personal retreat with the Lover of Your Soul. We all need an eternal perspective right now.

In the immortal words of Napoleon Dynamite, "There's more where that came from."

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All of this is true. Valentines Day can be pretty rough on someone . . . especially someone who dared to dream this past summer that for once she might not be single this Valentines Day. But I have to chose the eternal perspective and trust the Lord for my future. So if I have my way this Valentines Day, I'll be snuggling with a dear friend's sweet children while they have a chance to go out. Let's just hope that they take me up on their offer!

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UPDATE:

While I won't be snuggling with that dear friend's children, as they are opting to stay in for the evening, I will be on a "date". Another special friend and her family have invited me to join them for their Valentines dinner. So, I'll still have a chance to snuggle with a special 3 year old and love on him (especially since they're moving in two weeks - sad, I know). I'm so thankful for people who love on us "singles".

100th Day

Last week we had the 100th day at school. I can hardly believe that there are less than 80 days left of this school year (I think that equates to about 16 weeks, not that I'm counting or anything). This year has really sped by. While it is speeding by, my heart is still heavy. Being the worrier that I am, I wonder, what will happen this summer. Where will I live when the Kelly's come back. I know that God is in control and that he's planned my future, but still I wonder since I don't know what God has planned for me.

Back to the 100th day, it was a fun day of using the number 100 to explore all kinds of things. From 100 words to graphing 100 m&m's, it was a great way to celebrate the fact that we have already been in school 100 days! All my kids brought in a collection of 100 items to represent the days. I had a picture of these items my class brought in to share, but for some reason it's messed up. When I get it fixed I'll post it below.

As you can see, we have two kinds of marshmallows, pennies, straws, beans (in the jar), apple jacks, captain crunch, and (my favorite!) pieces of popcorn representing snow!

Chosen

I can be VERY indecisive sometimes (Yes, Hannah, you can stop nodding your head and laughing at that understatement!). I'd like to think that it's called being laid back, but . . . . ! Many times I know what I want, but other times, seriously, I drive myself crazy. How hard can it be to choose a cereal, or plan what I want to eat for the week, or make a decision whether or not to go to the PRESWIC annual meeting (yes, this is all true). It's the little things that get me. Big life decisions are easy because I can pray and seek God's will. However, nowhere in the Bible does it tell me which lotion scent to choose or whether I should run errands today or tomorrow. These small things really are not life or death issues, and there are no wrong or right answers, but sometimes I agonize over what I want to do. Does anybody else struggle with this? Is there any help out there for indecisive people? No, really? All helpful ideas will be accepted.

In an attempt to answer to my own question I've decided that there is an answer. It's called I need a permanent decision maker in my life. So, I'm currently taken applications for someone who I can call on to decide which cereal I should buy, what I should fix for dinner for the week, and which cookies I should pack in my lunch. :o) Serious applicants only!

Seriously though, how glad I am that God has chosen me! I know that with all my sin and muck, I would not have chosen HIM. What a beautiful thing that the major choices of this world have been made for me and that I can trust Jesus with my future. Both the big and little things!

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit an that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. John 15:16

Snowed in!

Well, today is day two of our "big snow" and tomorrow will be day three. It's pretty funny how what the North can handle, the South closes down. We've had about seven inches of snow followed by sleet and ice. Which leads us to Wednesday, still stuck indoors. The sun is supposed to come out tomorrow, so hopefully we'll be back to normal on Thursday. Not sure what exactly I'm going to do with my class for two days, because I don't want get our weeks out of sync. I'll probably use the time to focus on a few new topics and review. The kids will be happy to know that they won't be having any tests this week!

I decided this afternoon since the roads weren't too bad, I'd take a trip to Wal-mart. Where I discovered half of Dillon had the same idea. How sad is it that I just wandered around content to be in a place with other people! I know that one day I will look back on this solitary time and wish it back, but right now I sure could use some company. If we don't go back to school on Thursday, I may be risking the roads again to find some actual. living, breathing people! On the up side, at least I've had plenty of time to get my to-do list done! Tomorrow's agenda contains a little bit of sewing, baking some cookies, a little bit of pampering (nails), and hopefully walking around the neighborhood. Not too shabby for the third day straight stuck inside! Enjoy a few pics of around my home:

My miniature snowman!

Shot from the back gate

A cardinal in a tree

Elsie checking things out

Side view of house

Front view of house

Oh, and I just remembered one other thing I'll be doing. Watching our new governor being inaugurated! How exciting is that - if I had been at school, I wouldn't have been able to watch it live. As always, thankful for the small things.

Cents vs Sense

The second half of first grade is always a lot of fun. The children have gained (miraculously, I think) maturity over the Christmas break, and they are raring to go. My class this year, as usual, is giving many chuckles. I might be a tad biased, but really 6/7 year olds are truly the greatest. They love life, they love me, and they (most importantly) are learning to love Jesus! Such precious times I've had in Bible class as they explore learning about God. This week in particular we've been learning about Jesus as a boy. I've really seen the wheels turning as we delve into how Jesus would have lived and how honoring our parents means obeying with a good attitude. (Yeah, it can be convicting for teachers as well!)


In math class today, we were rocking and rolling learning about money. The currency of the day was the half dollar and dollar. The half dollar coin was a little confusing for them since, well, we don't really use that coin any more. However, I should have my hands on that coin soon, and hopefully will help clarify about this coin. We also discussed the dollar, which as always is a very fascinating lesson. Truly it is! All first graders know about bills is that they spend. So we spent time today discussing how they are printed on special paper, the letter that shows where the dollar was printed (Side note: why does San Francisco use L, Atlanta has F, and New York a B? Make sense? Anyone? Yeah, me either.), and the different serial numbers.


Anyway, we moved on to writing out dollars and cents. I explained about the decimal point and then wrote $1.00 on the board. I pointed to the one and asked how many dollars - they replied, 1. I pointed to the cents and asked, "How much cents does Miss Peeler have?" Yeah, you guessed it! They all promptly replied in unison, "NONE!"


Apparently, Miss Peeler has no SENSE to ask her class if she has any CENTS!!!! It was all I could to to keep from chuckling - and best of all, they didn't get it that they had agreed that I have no sense, oops cents!