Caleb's 7th Birthday Party

Saturday we celebrated Caleb's 7th birthday.

Here is a picture of the Birthday Boy!

Here is a really sweet picture of Kaden and Amy.


I snapped this photo of Thomas and his mom chatting.

Here is a picture of Caleb modeling the gift we gave him.

Kevin is all smiles.

Mammaw and Karsee.

Blow out the candles!

Here is a picture of all the adults watching the kids

whack the pinata.

Caleb about to hit the pinata.

Candy!

Karsee loves his Paw Paw.

Christy holding Karsee as Spiderman.

Watch out bad guys here comes Spider Woman!

Caleb and Kaden share some pizza.

Yummy! Do you want some?

The day was such fun for everyone. I know the kids really enjoyed themselves.

Dinner and a Movie Night...

Tonight was one of the highlights of my student teaching experience. My mentor teacher has special nights for her students when they are well behaved over a six week period. This occasion was Dinner and a Movie night. The kids really wanted me to come, and I thought that the teachers could use an extra chaperon and set of hands. It was so much fun! We had about thirty kids there, and boy were they hyper. We sat them down and handed out pizza, which is always a kid pleaser. We pumped up the music, and when they were full of sugar from the soda they had a huge area where they could dance and act crazy. We took video and lots of pictures to remember the event.
Once we settled them down a bit, it was time to watch Kung Fu Panda. Everybody pulled out pillows and blankets and huddled together. About half way through we handed out popcorn to all the kids. You just can't have a movie without popcorn! One of the boys was so comfortable on his mat that he fell asleep.
After the movie everyone pitched in to clean up the gym. It was a great time for everyone. I can't believe that I have already been working with these kids for four weeks now! With how fast the time is going my student teaching will be over before I know it! They are a great bunch of students, and I am glad that I have the opportunity to get to know them.

Crazy Cat!

Lately, my cat Gabby has been playing in my pantry cabinets. I have come home and found everything from a potato to plastic forks on my living room floor. The other day when I came home, I found this. The first picture is of Gabby being apologetic and loving.

This was all that was left of my roll of paper towels.

Gabby jumps from the floor to the stove and gets into my pantry cabinets.


Remnants of the paper towels, and a bottle of spices
that Gabby thought would be fun to play with.

I didn't do it!

Needless to say, Thomas and I have decided to buy latches for the cabinets. Sorry to ruin your fun Gabby! Sometimes pets are just like little kids.

First Day of Student Teaching

Today I started student teaching. I am so excited about this process. It has been a long time coming. I think that I am going to have a lot of fun with this fourth grade class. I really like the classroom teacher. She is really easy going, and has been teaching for about five years. She is also about my age which makes it really easy to relate to her. She answers all my questions, and I think will be a great help to me through this. I also met the principal today. She was a wonderful lady, and came into the class today just to welcome me. Everyone at the school is really nice. It has been a wonderful start for me!

New Year's Eve Bash

This year Thomas and I hosted the New Year's Eve party for our family. It was a lot of fun to have everyone in our home to ring in the New Year. We had lot's of food, and played all kinds of games. My Mom, Thomas' Mom, Nanny, and Paw Paw played cards for a long time.

Christy brought Emmy so Daisy would have a playmate.

Thomas was keeping them occupied.

Here is a picture of Evelyn and my mom's new dog Benny.
Benny is a sweet dog, but Daisy and Emmy didn't care for him.
I guess girl dogs are more territorial than you think.


Here is a picture of Christopher with Benny.
Benny loves kids.

I guess not everyone could stay awake for the New Year.

It was a great party! Thanks to everyone for making it fun.

Christmas Day

We always spend Christmas Day with my Mom. It has become our tradition to eat breakfast at IHOP, and then open presents at her house.

Thomas was ready to eat when I snapped this.

Here's a pic of my mom

One of my favorite decorations that my mom does every year is her Christmas Village.

The Celebration Continues at Nanny and Paw Paw's

After we spend time at Dad and Debbie's, we always meet the extended family at Nanny and Paw Paw's house for food, presents, and fun. Above is a picture of Nanny's tree piled with presents.

I snapped this pic of Mom, Nathan, Tim and Edith.

You have to love the grin on Tim's face.

Here is Angel. I don't think she likes all the people.

Thomas always starts the tissue paper fight.

This year everyone joined in. It was crazy.

Before all of the family got there we played a round of Phase 10.

I think Kevin's trophy was his favorite gift.

Evelyn, Niki, and Bryan

This year was also a big milestone for Uncle Tony.

He turned 50 this year. Happy Birthday Uncle Tony.

All the kiddos love to hang out in Edith's room

Nanny and Paw Paw

I love this picture of Christy's little Elves.

Here is a sweet pic of Christy and Daniel

Andrew looked pretty cute in his little seat.

It was a wonderful Elam get together.

Christmas Eve at Dad and Debbie's

We started our celebrating on Christmas Eve at Dad and Debbie's House. It was nice to be together and catch up after all of the holiday preparations. Above is a picture of their real Christmas tree. It was really soft.


Dad always takes a lot of pictures at the holidays. It took a while to snap this one because the boys wouldn't behave. Which one do you think it was? Cough Cough... Thomas.

Amy had a fun idea to do an ornament exchange. You could either pick one from the middle or steal someone else's. Nathan really wanted the one that had a picture of Amy and Tim's boys, but Amy won out.

This was a really sweet pic of Pap Paw and his grandboys.

I love this pic of Kaden's big grin.

Karson absolutely loved the push car that he got from Dad and Debbie.

Kaden looks like he's trying to find some mischief here.

Kaden loved the Batman car that he got from Dad and Debbie.

Karson looks like he wants a turn to.

Uncle Thomas really enjoyed playing with Karson this time.