Christmas and Birthdays

We had a blast going to Ruston to celebrate Christmas and Davis Glen's 8th birthday!! Here we are enjoying a birthday breakfast!

We made a stop to see mom's (and GG's) grave. I don't visit everytime, but wanted to this time. I had some special boys go with me!

Christmas was fun...especially with a house full of boys. They were watching a Texas Hold 'Em game on the computer.

A highlight of my trip to Ruston was seeing Mandy. Mandy and I lived together in college and after college. I hadn't seen her in a long time, so it was nice to see and get time to visit before church on Sunday. Jason and I both love our Mandy! :)

I've Been Tagged!

I've been tagged! This is a picture of my dad, sis, and brother at my wedding. They are lighting a candle in memory of my mom. They did this when she would have been walking down the aisle.

Now it's time for more people to get tagged.
1. Go to the place where you store all of your pictures on your computer and open up the 4th folder.
2. Open the 4th picture .
3. Post the picture and give an explanation.
4. Tag 4 people.

Now I tag:
1.Leanna
2. Charly
3. Mandy
4. Shandra

Lady A!

Lady Antebellum Wins "New Artist Of The Year" Award At CMA Awards!
Congratulations to Lady Antebellum on winning the "New Artist of the Year" award last night at the CMA Awards!

Jeff Foxworthy's Take on Teachers

YOU KNOW YOU ARE A TEACHER IF:
1. You can hear 25 voices behind you and know exactly which one belongs to the child out of line.

2. You get a secret thrill out of laminating something.

3. You walk into a store and hear the words "its Ms/Mr. _________" and know you have been spotted.

4. You have 25 people that accidentally call you Mom/Dad at one time or another.

5. You can eat a multi-course meal in under twenty-five minutes.

6. You've trained yourself to go to the bathroom at two distinct times of the day: lunch and conference period .

7. You start saving other people's trash, because most likely, you can use that toilet paper tube or plastic butter tub for something in the classroom.

8. You believe the teachers' lounge should be equipped with a margarita machine.

9. You want to slap the next person who says "Must be nice to work 7 to 3 and have summers off."

10. You believe chocolate is a food group.

11. You can tell if it's a full moon without ever looking outside.

12. You believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says "Boy, the kids sure are mellow today."

13. You feel the urge to talk to strange children and correct their behavior when you are out in public.

14. You believe in aerial spraying of Ritalin.

15. You think caffeine should be available in intravenous form.

16. You spend more money on school stuff than you do on your own children.

17. You can't pass the school supply aisle without getting at least five items!

18. You find true beauty in a can full of perfectly sharpened pencils.

19. You are secretly addicted to hand sanitizer

20. You understand instantaneously why a child behaves a certain way after meeting his or her parents.

I've Been Tagged!

My lovely Austin friend tagged me...thanks, Julie! I always think about these things after reading someone else's blog...then...it comes down to me coming up with 7, and I go blank.

Here are 7 random things about me...

1) My mom ran over me when I was 18 months old...no, it wasn't on purpose and yes...that is what is wrong with me now! :)

2) I'm VERY OCD about my alarm clock. I have to check it 3 times, pushing the buttons in a certain order, each night BEFORE crawling into bed.

3) I could eat seafood or mexican food for every meal.

4) I wish I could own a bakery and just bake all day.

5) I have always wanted to fly...seriously.

6) I used to pray to live to the age of 112. Help us all!

7) I sometimes say "mom" just to hear it. Crazy, I know...call the docs and send some meds!

I tag every reader that reads this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Poison Oak

This is my arm. Pretty, huh? It hurts SOOOO badly! Apparently I got into poison oak at our new house. We have been cutting down vines, etc. The bad news is I have it here, my elbow on the other arm, my upper arm on the other arm, my stomach, chest and legs. Today I told my students to grab my arm if they saw me touching it. They did just that!! They were so cute! I just can't stop scratching it. I am now starting to scratch on my neck. Lovely!

Crazy Cajuns!

This is a seafood place in College Station. This sign made me laugh. It reminds me of being back in Louisiana in more than one way!

What A Day!

Here was my day:
Today was a writing benchmark day. Pretty much what that means is the kids stay in their homeroom all day and write...just like TAKS test day. It shows us, the teachers, what they have learned in the first 6 weeks. It's a LONG, boring day. Usually it's pretty quiet, unlike today...after lunch.

I go pick up my kids from lunch recess. I see the VP talking to 2 of my kids. Lovely.
Hi, Mrs. Roraback. What's the problem?
Mrs. Owen, student A and student B were playing tag and...5 minutes later...student B hit student A. Then student A punched student B back...in the stomach and face twice. So I am sending student B to the nurse.

Student B chimes in...Mrs. sniff Owen sniff, blah, blah, blah....tears, snot, etc. Student A still has his hands in a fist.

Mrs. Roraback, student A has had a rough day. He was throwing paper at another student during testing.

Well, he owes his recess for the rest of the week.

I'm sweating and seeing my class is NOT in line anymore.

Blow the whistle, line up again.

Back in the room....all is quiet. Student B comes in...ice pack on his eye. He goes to sit down.

Oh lovely...the students that were just fighting are sitting next to one another. Sitting at my desk, thinking...hmm..

Excuse me, Mrs. Owen?

Oh yes, principal's daughter...OH DEAR....blood is everywhere. NOSE BLEED. Reach to hand her a tissue....Mrs. Owen...my knee is bleeding.

thinking...join the crowd...ok--let me fill out a pass for you to go to the nurse.

Ring, ring...Mrs. Owen, please send student C to the office, her ride is here. Student C...pack your things.

Mrs. Owen, my knee is really hurting. Ok, here's the pass.

P'pals daughter...are you ok? Go wash that blood off your shirt. I'll email your mom to let her know what happened.

No big deal, right? WRONG! It all happened at once. It's like my room went from quietly working to craziness in 2 seconds. Good thing about it...it all ended in 5 minutes.

Oh the life of a teacher...

God's Beauty

Every morning on my way to school I get to watch the sun rise. This particular morning I was running so late. Then to top it off, I got stopped by a train. So I finally made it to this road--where I could finally go 70mph. Then I noticed the sun rise. It was so pretty. These pics don't do it justice, but I was in a hurry, trying to drive and take pics. Not a good combo!! I was once again reminded of God's beauty and how wonderful He is. I was also reminded just to be still sometimes. I made it to work on time and got to experience God on the way. He is too good to me!!

'

New House Update

These are the most recent pics of our new house. I can't wait to see it with the window finished and the shutters on the front. Of course, some landscaping will be nice as well! Here's the front.

Side view...coming in from the road on what will be the driveway.

Taken from living room, looking to dining room and what will be the front door.

Taken from the kitchen, looking into the great room.

My classroom

These are some pics of my classroom. I have added stuff since these were taken, but this will give you an idea of where I spend many hours a day! :)

This is the back of my room. I pick a student to be a tribe member for the week. They are my helper all week.

This is a side of my room. The steps are for a reading area.

This is the same wall where my steps are. That is my desk and my corner!

My smart board! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks to PTO, every classroom has one.

Our New House!

These are some recent pics of our new house. There are some windows still missing, but this is the most up-to-date pics we have.

These are some windows from our great room.

This pic was taken from the window in the previous pic. This is where my chair will sit, so I can look out and see trees. Can't wait!

This is Jason in our great room. That Tyvek paper will be another window. The corner is a fireplace.

Please pray we sell our current home. We know God is in control, but it's hard to get too excited about our new house when we haven't sold our current home.

American Idol Finalists Concert

My friend, Cristi, invited me to go to the concert. She won tickets off of the radio, so I was super excited to get to go! When I said yes, I had no idea the concert (in Houston) was the night before school starts. I was very tired, but had a BLAST!! We got home after midnight, and my alarm went off the next morning at 6A.M. I was really wishing I could incorporate nap time into my 4th grader's schedule. No such luck! I would not have traded it for the world. It was SO much fun!

The runner up David singing...AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The winner David singing, Hero. It's a song written about his brother. The initials on the big screen (that are on his guitar) are for his brother.

Here he is again singing....WHAT A VOICE!

Couldn't leave out my Aggie, Jason Castro! He said ,"Howdy Ags" when he got up there and left with, "Thanks and Gig 'em!" He did an amazing job. We also got to hear the song he tried out with. They couldn't show clips of it on AI because the artist never released it for him to do.

Newest Member of the Fam!

This is the newest member of our family. We decided with 2 acres of land, we needed it.

Jason couldn't be happier!!

Olympics

Hillary's band, Lady Antebellum, was asked to write and sing a song for the Team USA Soundtrack. They were honored and so excited. But as time drew near, they hadn't had time to write a song. Well Hillary had written a song she sang for her high school graduation that seemed fitting. So they recorded that song!!! Check out the link below to watch and listen!!

http://attblueroom.com/sports/teamusa/soundtrack/english/artist_lineup.php?artist_name=lady_antebellum&video_id=1

My Bobcat Men!

I didn't post pics about when my nephews were here. So here are some pics of the boys...on Jason's machines. This is Davis Glen.



This is Owen...jumping off. He stayed with Jason one day to help him work. I am not sure which one liked it better....Jason or Owen!! :)












This is Andrew. He was making sure his seatbelt was hooked! I can't believe he will start Kinder next year.

4 years ago!

Jason and I celebrated 4 years of marriage on July 17th. I can't believe it's already been 4 years. Wow! Wonderful years!

Jason and I saw each other before we got married. I walked down the chapel aisle, where Jason was waiting for me. He wrote me a letter of what he was going to be thinking each step as I walked down. I am SO glad we saw each other before. I was very emotional...especially after the letter. He's a keeper!

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Jason Owen. Whew...we made it!!

My precious girls. I don't know what I would have done without these wonderful friends throughout my life. My florist told me to let my beautiful girls decorate the stage. I agree...they are so pretty. But what makes them so special is how beautiful they are on the INSIDE. Love you girls!

Mit--college roomie from MC. She is AMAZING. She is so devoted to the Lord. She never went a day without her daily devotional time with the Lord. I learned a lot from her.

Dara Doo--college friend from MC. Dara lived right down the hall from me my freshman year in the dorm. Dara rolled her hair EVERYDAY!! She has a gentle spirit and a loving heart.

Sara Less--I was born in May, she was born in June, and we have been together ever since. Our parents hung out all the time, so we were stuck with each other. Funny thing is, we hated each other in Kinder! hehehehe! Sara is one of those friends that I can go a while without talking to, then call her, and it seems like no time has gone by. When my mom had surgery, and we were told she had cancer, Sara was the first person I called. She dropped everything to come be with me at the hospital. I could write a book about all of our memories.

Jennifer "JJ" Jones Black--we became best friends in HS when she thought she was inlove with my brother! HA! We spent practically every weekend together after that! We have been through a lot--good and bad--and she has loved me through it all!! Wow...the things I could talk about!!! :)

Shandra Miller Landrum--Shan was my icee and drive by friend. Oh the talks we had!! We thought we had it all figured out! HA! Then she became my teaching buddy. Glad we didn't have everything figured out, Shan! :)

Mandy Ginn--Miss Mandy--we grew up together, but became better friends when we lived together during our Tech days. This girl is amazing! We liked to sing, dance, and use a light from the oven. I will never forget one night she made me go get a magnolia off a tree at Tech. It was very late, and a cop drove by. We were safe! :)

Keri Walker Taylor--we became best friends early in life. Her family moved to Ruston, and we became friends instantly. Most of my childhood memories have Keri in them. We have been through a lot together and her faith has remained strong through it all.

I loved my wedding day, and I am so thankful I had these wonderful friends by my side.

Nephews and a Fender Bender

When I left Ruston, I brought back my sis and her 3 boys. They spent the week with me. We had a BLAST!!! My brother-in-law, Selwyn, came in Friday afternoon to pick up his family. We ate dinner and went to my inlaws for my family to see their house. It was getting late and everyone was tired. Jason took Owen back home in his truck so they could play a little PS2 before bedtime. My sister jumped in my car, and Selwyn had Davis Glen and Andrew. I was sitting at a red light with Selwyn behind me. BOOM. We had been hit. A BIG truck "said" he was stopped at the red light and took his foot off of the brake. Ummm...hello....if you look at Selwyn's car, you can tell he wasn't stopped. His whole rear end looks like a paper airplane ready for flight.

So we waited FOREVER for the police woman to show up and fill out a report. Selwyn, Ash and the boys made it home safely the next day, but with rope holding down the trunk full of their luggage.

So now I am making phone calls, emails, etc. trying to get my car fixed this week since I start teaching Jumpstart next week.

What a way to end an awesome week!!!

Now I am getting my classroom ready. I am using the survivor theme this year, so lots of changes have been made!!

Sara's Baby Shower

I came into Ruston this weekend to give Sara a baby shower. EmmaLeigh Mae will be here in September!!! We had a great time, and it was SO good to see some old faces.

A wonderful "Mrs. Nancy" cake was very cute, but tasted SOOOO good!!

Stacy came in (thanks Stacy!!!) and loaded Sara up with gifts. One of the favs was some Tech gear!!! Doesn't Sara look AMAZING?!!!


Monday morning I am loading my car with my sis and her 3 boys and heading to Texas. They will stay the week, so more pics and fun times will be shared!!!!