Double the Fortune

Fortune Says: Good things come in twos!

9 weeks to go.

:)

Holiday Greetings and Wishes

All of our printing (stationary, address labels, note cards, ect.) is done by the Bartlett Street Paperie.

http://www.bartlettstreetpaperie.com/home.html

She is fabulous! We used to teach together and I just love the BSP!

All I want for Christmas

This is something I have been meaning to do for 2 weeks and I am just now getting to it. (And I really should be writing lesson plans...) Put on your thinking hats and guess that Christmas Carol!

* 1 "Comfort and Joy"

* 2 "And a Happy New Year! "

* 3 Still Dreaming...

* 4 "How lovely are your branches"

After much frustration with blogger, so ends the caroling quiz.

We had a blessed holiday and are looking forward to this exciting new year.

Merry Christmas!

(I will figure out the Xmas card thing soon.)

Le Hopital x duex

I have been trying to think of some fabulous blog...but no such luck.

We made our first visit to Labor and Delivery.Not how we expected...in the middle of the night.
We were having some minor contractions, but it is all "normal." They kept us overnight, but the boys are doing great. Everything was ok and they gave me the all clear to keep working. I am slower than a snail, but we are continuing to make it to school. Today was our party and I am soooo glad that is finished. At my school, the teacher is responsible for planning, organizing, and running the party. Right before the party we had 2 get sick. It is always exciting!

Today we went to one of our Dr.'s and they each weigh 2.7 lbs!! I also had the sugar test. Major gag. I also got really woozie and really tired. So the lab had me lay down in the xray room.

We are ready for the holidays. Lots of rest is needed and it is a lot easier said than done. We are just thankful that everyone is doing well. I am ready for lots of days in the jammies, hot chocolate, and riding around looking at lights. I would love to do all the other fun things that require walking (shopping, visiting friends, going to the movies, ect) but I continue to be real strick on myself and limit my feet time. It seems to be doing us good. Not to mention I have the BEST HUSBAND IN THE WHOLE WORLD. He does everything so after school I can just rest.

10 weeks left till we meet the misters.

I will try to figure out how to post our Christmas greetings for all those sweet reader friends I have no address for.

Happy Holidays!

Hello Blog World!

Ok. It has been a long time since I posted. I am not able to sleep right now, so I thought I would take advantage of this time and greet my readers (or lack there of) again.

Since Sep.24th...

1. We moved. We have moved closer to work (yea!) and have been there for about a month. Given the fact that I am much like an elephant (fat and slow)...We are still unpacking. The painter is still painting and finally beginning the BOYS' room.

2.THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN! Yes, Michael and I are welcoming 2 little boys into the world Feb. 28th or before. They are very active. The 8'o clock hour is right baby's favorite time to exercise. He is a gymnast doing lots of somersaults. He even does the wave. Not sure how he does it, but my stomach looks wavy. Quiet one is not as active, but just when I begin to worry he makes his presence know. We have lots of appts. all the time. So far so good.

3. Full speed ahead. Still working full time. I have had to cut back on my dancing moves-I just can't robot like I used to. The kids are very sweet and compare me to the old lady (You know the one that gets fatter and fatter-"Just like you!" they say.) or now it is Santa Clause. I am super super busy there. The work load is always overwhelming plus I am writing 14 weeks of lesson plans and doing the prep. If you don't teach Early Childhood, you don't have the joys of prep work. I have 4 weeks down and lots to go...

4. Good-bye sweet car. Hello Mommy car.
We are saying goodbye to my Jetta and hello to the SUV. I like the SUV, but nothing will ever be as precious as my first new car-Little Jetta. I love the VW world.

5. Finally registered. When we went to Ft. Worth for the holiday, we went to Babies R Us. (Our town does not have any baby store other than Target and Walmart.) Where I thought this would be lots of fun like Wedding Registry was 5 years ago, it was not. I had the Baby Bargains book in tow, all my notes from my mommy friends, their suggestion list, and a store full of foreign material. Double the kid, double the confusion. Michael and I realized we are way out of our league. Don't even get me started on the breast feeding section...

6. Growing Each Day
My belly sticks out more and more. Sorry...I will not be posting pictures of this on the web. If you would like to see how fat and fabulous I look, come and see me. But, I am not inviting the world to witness my uncomfortable state. Let's just say I do not look like the prego moms in the catalogues. I will say my feet are still nice and trim for now. Whoooh. That is one of my biggest fears. I can not say goodbye to my shoes. I have had to leave them on the shelf and my new friends with flats, but I see them everyday and look forward to our sweet reunion.

I have found the camera and the cord now. However, the batteries are now dead. So house pics later. Maybe.

It is hard to take time to post because I am never on the home computer for fun. I will try to be better about it.

Thanks for asking and thinking about us. We appreciate all the thoughts and prayers and have been very blessed.

Hope the Thanksgiving Holidays were special for you and your family. Ours were and we even had snow!

Super Sister!!!!

This is my Super Sister!!! Over the last 16 weeks she has cooked, cleaned, loved, die-cut, complete bulletin boards, shopped, and now packed for me. What would I have done without her???? I know she isn't thrilled about being in Abilene right now, BUT we 3 are!!!!

ps- My kids asked today about a picture of us. They asked, "Is this your mom?" Nope, that is my sister. They see things in such a funny light.

Just Make Me Smile

Oprah today made me smile. JT, (oh, how I LOVE jt!) Reba, and Kelly Clarkson sang their hearts out today. I found myself just smiling the whole way through!

We had a rain shower today. :) Rain is good!

I felt good.

Help is on the way. I am getting lots of helping hands for my classroom. A special thank you to my sweet staff and administrators for taking care of the 3 of us.

I love Michael! He takes such good care of all of his babies. Ruff, ruff-Zeke
Meow-Mavie

Just put on a happy face. :)

ps-I just had to add this!!! Production on the Sex in the City MOVIE started TODAY. This May is when we can expected the film. HMMMM...schedule babysitter for May!

What a change a week brings!

I am feeling much better. I have finished the meds and each day feel better. My tummy feels like it is growing, too. I think those babies are getting ready to stick out. :)

Tonight is open house so I thought I would upload post move-in pics of the classroom. It is going to be a great year!

Welcome to room 3!

my teaching corner

Back to Work

Sometimes work is the best medicine!

I went back today. It was hard, but good. I had many "oh, no" moments, but I made it out alive. I move a lot slower for sure! But, actually so do my 4 year olds. (only when we walk in a line...)

Everyone was soooooo sweet offering a helping hand or a sweet smile. All of my kids missed me which surprised me because it is only the 3rd week of school. Yea! We have formed a bond. (Poor things. The big long absence is coming soon. ) Even the parents were excited to have me there. I just have a really good class. They even bring me McDonald's ice cream cones made out of sand. Yum.

They all wanted to know where my babies were and were sad to learn that they are still growing. We talked about that they wouldn't be here until it gets cold.

I am slowly feeling better. Still dehydrated, but functioning and really pushing the liquids. It may be a long 5 or so months.

Never thought I would say this, but I was glad to be back at work.

My 1st ER Visit

Stats:
duration:6 hours (lucky compared to some)
condition: All of us are well. We got to hear the heartbeats for the first time. I am just taking some more meds to make things right.
opinions: The ER is NOT FUN! I would rather die, but I have to think about the others involved. I could of thought of 18 other ways to spend $100.

I was really hoping for an IV to get me back on the right track, but they didn't give me one! :(
We are just praying everything works and we don't have to go back like the Dr. instructed us to if things don't get better.

So it looks like I won't be having that 5 day week yet. I didn't make it today and tomorrow is up in the air.

Ahhhhh...
Home Sweet Home.
Bed Sweet Bed!

The Aliens Are Coming

Last night the aliens came. They told me I was part alien and they were taking me and the babies away.

Well, my body feels like foreign place-that's for sure. I have had many nuts-o dreams and I am sure there are a lot more to come.

The Classroom Before Me

(last year 5 days before school started)

I weeded out a lot.

(Have you noticed-there are no closets. All of my storage is over head except for 1 cabinet.)

I guess the nice way of describing this room is

VINTAGE.
After pics coming soon!

School is going well. I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo tired. We have had 2 4 day weeks so far. By Thursday, I am zonked. Friday I can barley move. I feel like a 90 year old woman walking around. Everyone tells me I need to sit. But, 20 4 year olds don't allow for sitting time. Teaching early childhood doesn't have sitting time. I haven't made it back to the gym, but I have been getting quite a workout doing head, shoulders, knees, and toes, the freeze, and phonercise. I think it gets my wiggles out more than them.


This is my 1st 5 day week. I am praying I make it. Maybe I need to get one of those chairs on casters and the helper of the day can push the teacher!!!

2 Lemons make LEMONADE!

The past 13 weeks have been full of surprises.

1. We are pregnant. We found out at the beginning of July.We had been waiting on them for a while and June was our lucky month.

2. There are 2! Yes, TWINS!!! We found out when we went in for our 8 week appointment.

My little surprises-

3. My PawPaw had twin sisters. They died back in 1909 and almost 100 years later the gene returns!

4.Pregnancy and twins make me very so sick. I spent 5 weeks at home. No lie. I didn't leave the house. Just nausea and good porcelain time. I even LOST 6 lbs. Who knew those last 5 lbs could be solved by pregnancy. I am taking meds 2x a day and now have finally gotten back to my

pre-pregnancy weight. Yea!

5. They have grown so much!!! They are the size of lemons now.Here they are:twin a and twin b

So come February (I am due Mar. 13th, but since they like to come early...) we will go from a family of 2 to 4!!!

Viva Las Vegas!

The Strip

We have finally returned from all of our travels. Laundry is calling my name. But, the vacay was GREAT!

We spent the 4th of July with my grandparents in Ft. Worth. My parents, Analee, cousins, and my uncle and aunt also came. I heart Grammy's. The homemade chocolate ice cream is soooo yummy!

Over the weekend we went down to Houston to see more family and friends. Oh yeah, we ate too! Lupe Tortilla is heavenly!!!! Gosh, I miss good Mexican food.We returned for 2 days so Michael could work and be at meetings and such.

Then we drove back to Ft. Worth to catch our flight to Vegas. I was surprised by how much fun I had!!!

*The highlights*

*the pool at our hotel-We stayed at the MGM grand. The "grand pool" as they call it consist of 6.6 acres of pools! It was so much fun. I wish I had more time to enjoy it.

*the food-When you live in Abilene, great food is hard to come by. So vacation always means good eats. We ended up eating at a lot of Wolfgang Puck's establishments. Hmmm...my favorite was the Chinese fusion place. I heart Chinese food!

*the shopping-I love the Forum Shops at Caesar's. Kate Spade decided she wanted to be part of my purse collection. :) (For those of you that don't know, I have a purse collection. It is one of my favorite things to buy. It is right up there with my shoe collection.)

*star sightings- I saw Dillon from General Hospital. Michael saw Carrot Top

***the entertainment-We went and saw Mamma Mia (very cute), a magic show, and the Beatles' LOVE cirque du soleil!!! Incredible! It was the best show I have ever seen! I have never seen anything like it. It was in a theatre in the round and you felt like you were part of the show. It was very interactive. The music was great. I loved all the artistic representation. Just, WOW!

@ the Beatles LOVE theatre

I loved it!Back to the world of West Texas. A couple more weeks to enjoy my summer.

Forecast: Scattered Showers

Boy, it has raining a lot! Raining with blessings!!!!

Kanyon is scheduled to go home at the beginning of the week. We have praying for this little man and he sure has worked hard. He has grown up into a little man!!!! We rejoice with the Phillips!!!!!

Other friends have received long awaited jobs, husband's return dates, and much more!!!

I finished summer school! Yipee! Summer, summer, summertime has begun!!!

Walking Humbly with God

"He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do
justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6:8

This verse has been a daily plan for so many people. It was PawPaw's favorite verse. I remember how the verse prefaced the celebration of his life so many year ago. This verse was also a favorite of a precious sister at Clear Lake that passed away from cancer last night. At first I thought "lost the battle," but that is not fitting at all. She was a fighter. She was courageous and always had a positive spin on her battles. I have spent the last week or so reading daily updates and mentally preparing for today. I guess what is so different about cancer these days is you LIVE with it. It may not take your life immediately, but you spend years living with it. And she did. Her little girl who just finished Kindergarten has only known as Mommy with cancer, mommy with no hair. How blessed am I that I was able to grow up with my parents.

This verse must be a fighters verse. PawPaw lived with lupus and She lived with cancer.

We just continue to shower this family in our prayers of peace and ask you, too.

Get Therapy!

Just look into the bullseye... Put your feet up on the cart and roll. (Of course you would need your husband to push you. )

Target was my therapy for today!

Dinner for 1=99 cents (Popcorn and a Coke or lemonaid in my case)

Shaving Cream=$1.81

JT's CD=$13.88

hundreds of square feet of entertaining and therapudic merchandise=priceless

I love Target. Sometimes I think my subconscious forgets things at other stores just so I can visit the Therapist. Today to recuperate from a long day at work and working out, I strolled the hours of the nearest Target.

Another kind of therapy-Baby therapy!

Congrats to Pinsons! Baby Sam is here. We have been praying for this little guy and we are continuing to keep this family of 4 in our prayers as he continues to grow and as mommy recovers.

You say goodbye. I say hello!

I'm a Reader, not a writer.

I am not doing so well at the blog thing. I am much more of a reader than a writer. One month later here's what has been happening-

I finished school! Yea!!! My 4th year is completed. I looked at my teaching certificate the other day for something and realized it expires in January! Yikes! I need those 150 hrs. to renew. Anybody know how that works really?

Had a little wedding cake-Miss Mary got married! We had a great time driving to Tyler. She was so beautiful. All the girls look great. Little Reese was such a cutie. Mindi looks precious prego.

Started summer school-I signed up to keep me busy during the month of June. Michael is usually busy with Youth stuff, so I thought this would be perfect! Well, I am teaching 3rd grade! 4 grade levels difference. I have really had to learn a new wheel. 2 more weeks to go.

I am also helping teach the 1st graders at church. I love this age. I missed them this past year. This has been a lot of fun.


I am excited about July. Lots of trips planned. Time to see friends and fam. Can't wait.

I am going to try to be a little better at blogging. But like I said, I am a reader.

Time for a new post

5 more days!!! I am so excited to be almost done with my 4th year of teaching!!! I have never looked forward to summer as much as this year.

May has been quite busy. We had family come in for Graduation and my 21st B-day. ;) It was lots of fun to entertain a house full of guest. We even made a video card for my cousin that has to have massive surgery on her hip. The singing cousins made a superstar performance!

This week we worked liked a dog for Graduation. Whoo, glad that is over.

Now, just 5 days to go.

Prayers for Jayde

Jayde continues to fight, but she needs our prayers. She is such a little fighter and the Lord is holding her tight. I can't wait to meet these little guys who are so strong and so much braver than I am. If you want to keep up with the twins, just follow the link.

http://thephillipsphamily.blogspot.com/

My Special Friends-PRAYERS NEEDED

Please be praying for my little friends: Samuel, Reese, Jayde, & Kanyon! I love them so dearly and their mommies are very precious to me.

Samuel is such a fighter and is continuing to grow in his mommy's tummy. Mommy has been extremely ill and hospitalized (in and out) since September! She has hyper-emesis which is non-stop nausea, vomiting, and EXTREME cramping. I went to visit her this weekend and I am still so amazed at how she is such a survivor and fighter. I can see where Sam gets it! She is very inspiring.

Reese continues to bake in Mom's tum even though we are anxiously awaiting her arrival-She is already a week overdue. We continue to pray for a safe birth for mom and baby,

My other 2 friends are new to this world and came quite a bit early! They are 26 weeks and weigh only 1 lb 9.8 oz and 1 lb 12 oz. Please be praying for these fragile little lives as they are little fighters, too.

Just shower my little friends in prayer. They so desperately need it. I love their mommies and these little guys soooooooooooooo MUCH!!!!

I just blew in from the windy city...

Yesterday was quite exceptional. I got to experience the West Texas Gusts. They were so powerful they broke the glass door at the nail salon where I was yesterday-Just blew open the door and all the glass shattered.

Once I got home I discovered that the backyard fence blew down,too! Luckily, I had anticipated such and put Zeke up before I left. I am glad I did bc I would hate to have come home and he be gone.

The orange skies have passed and blue ones have returned. (I didn't have a filter on the lens-It was really that orange! )The sun is yellow once again-bc yesterday is was crazy weird.

The fence doctor will come Monday!

Over the Last Month...

Every MLK, the most fabulous girls-My girlfriends get together for GIRLS WEEKEND! Even though we were dealing with icy weather, piercing loud security alarms, and more we had a wonderful time. Fireman Dan (my personal friend from the 1402 days) even came by to save the day!

All the girls are prego!!!!!

Hanging out and enjoying the down time.

Girlfriends 4 ever! Melania and Kynlee meet.

PICTURES FROM MICHAEL'S PARTY

SURPRISE!

Doggie Days

Sunny, Sunny, Sunny, Sunny, It is sunny in the sky!

It has been a cloudy and snowy winter. For this Houstonian, it has been very, very cold. Even my 4 year olds have told me they are ready for it to warm up. Actually, their new favorite song is Sunny, Sunny. They LOVE it when it is warm and sunny because that equals our favorite time of the day=RECESS!

Zeke, our dog loves it too. He gets to be out and play. Today we took him to the park and he got to play with his Xmas present from his aunt-Chunk it toy. It is a blue launcher that hoist the tennis ball high in the air. He has to really huff it to catch it. After 15 minutes, we were already on our way home. He was tired.

Zeke playing at the park

Body Jam?!???

How do you really make your body jam?
Well, the gym knows...

I have been going to the gym with Kate lately. Tonight we did body jam class. I just have to laugh the whole way through because never in my whole life through have I moved liked this! Even 1402 Washington Dance Nights. :) Sorry class, you have to look at me.

I think I will stick to hiphop alphabop with the 4 year olds. I can bring a mean head, shoulders, knees, and toes.

Heaven

Over the weekend one of the little girls at the school I am teaching at was killed in a drive by shooting. It is just so tragic, yet very common in the lives of the little ones I teach.

Being 4 years old, they talk about everything and process a lot verbally. This morning they were talking about the little girl that was shot.

One little boy said,

"She is in heaven now,but it takes a long time to get there." :)

They began to discuss heaven. What is it? Where is it?

One little boy said,

"It is up in the sky"

Another little boy said,

"No. It is where the grass is and then you turn into a zombie"

Did you break the code: graveyard


I wonder what they will talk about tomorrow morning.

The Queen Bee!

I am such a proud teacher! 4 years ago I had my first Kindergarten class. They have grown up so much and are now big 3rd graders. They will always hold a special place in my heart as my first class.
I just happened to check in on my old school and saw pictures of my little friend WINNING the spelling bee! Hydroperiod was the winning word and it was from the intermediate book! She was a smartie in Kinder and still a smartie today.

I love my first class. They were the perfect class for a first year teacher. All of them were SUPER SMARTIES! I had 2 students that year reading the Junie B. novels IN KINDERGARTEN!

Good Luck to my special friend as she goes to compete on the county level.
You go girl!

Goodbye 2006, Goodbye House.

December 27th we finally closed on our 1st home. We are thankful that this day finally came after 14 months on the market. I am also a little bit sad that we said goodbye to our 1st home. It was a fabulous home and we will really miss it.

I am glad 2006 is over. It was a year full of challenging moments, growing pains, and groans. I am praying 2007 is full of more challenges, but maybe not as hard to get through.

I have rearranged my classroom in attempts to start fresh. I am almost done. Why do I do this with only 5 months left in the year? Michael asked the same question. I am hoping that this will help. We shall see next week.

We had a great Christmas full of travels and family. It was so great to see everyone. My sister and her husband were down. He leaves for his 8 month tour in Iraq this month. Please keep them in your prayers.

Happy New Year, friends!