Kari's Blog

So today while I was reading my students a story I had one raise their hand and ask a question. I really do not remember the question, but I was able to answer it briefly and then move on. But, right after I answered the question another hand shot up and asked me how I knew the answer. I replied…”because I”m a teacher, and teachers know everything.” To which another student raised their hand and said…”That is not right Mrs. Maddox, only God knows everything.” To which I replied…”Amen!”

It was a very bonding experience for me and my students. I hope it happens again.

Thanks, and have a great night.

Well, we had a fun and restful weekend. I say restful, there were bits of rest here and there, but we were actually pretty busy….as usual.

We went and saw Julie and Julia this weekend. It was so great! I absolutely loved it! It was a cute and fun movie and I would recommend it to anyone. We also went to BJ’s and did their $20 meal deal. You get two salads, any pizza and then a pazookie all for $20! Yummy. That’s all I have to say about that.

Today was the first day of school. It was busy, hectic, fast and I am exhausted. It’s funny how I always seem to forget how tiring the first day is. I have some sweet students and am really looking forward to a good school year.

Now, I shall go pass out on the couch!

Amen.

This weekend Andrew and I headed up to Dallas to visit his family and attend his cousin’s wedding. We had a great time!

Thursday night we drove up, and of course, got stuck in traffic. Who would have thought there would be traffic at 9:15 at night??? Anyway…we finally made it and soon after crashed from a very long day!

Friday morning we got up and went to NRH2O a local water park which is conveniently right next to Andrew’s parents house. As soon as we got there we decided to ride the “Green Extreme” which is like a roller coaster (except with water). The line wasn’t too long, and before you know it we are on the ride. We go down the first big dip and go around the turns and other dips and soon we are approaching the last big dip. So we start our trek up the incline and I notice that is seems our raft is struggling and we were losing momentum. People…losing momentum on a roller coaster ride is NOT good. So finally we make it up the incline, but right as we reach the top we stop. STOP! and start going backwards!!! I’m thinking to myself…”we should not be going backwards! This is not good!” So Andrew and I start frantically trying to decide what to do. All the while I”m thinking..”Oh my gosh! The people behind us are going to ram into us! I am going to die on a water ride!” Andrew starts to wave his arms and then we hear this loud siren go off and all the water stops! We jump out of the raft and onto the emergency exit that is conveniently placed right where we stopped. So we are standing there, waiting, and while my self esteem is plummeting. I mean, we couldn’t make it up the incline…..what is this saying about me???

Finally someone comes to get us and we ask him how often this happens. He replies…”Oh, at least once a day.” Whoo! It’s not just me. Then he asks us if we want to ride again? We say yes and he has to walk us back up all the stairs, past the angry mob of people who are having to wait longer because of us. Needless to say, I tried to make the least amount of eye contact with all those people. So we get on another raft and start the ride again. The whole time I am praying that we don’t get stuck again! Thankfully we did not. NRH2O will forever have that memory attached to it. Thankfully the rest of our water park experience was uneventful.

Friday afternoon we got to hang out with the whole family…and the two cutest nephews ever. I got to hold and cuddle with Joseph, read books and play with Matthew. Needless to say,  I was happy.

Saturday we went over to Brett and Erin’s so that Andrew could take some pictures of the boys and the family together. Man, it is hard work to get a two year old and a 4 month old to smile in the same picture! I have never played so much peek-a-boo in my life! Luckily, Andrew was able to get some really good pictures.

Saturday afternoon Andrew’s cousin, Ruth, got married. It was a very nice wedding and reception. It was good to see all his extended family again. And I always enjoy being at a wedding, it makes me think about ours.

It was a fun filled weekend to say the least! Andrew and I really enjoyed spending time with our family and being able to get away for the weekend. And so now, summer is over, and another school year is beginning. I can tell it is going to be a great year!

at the wedding

I always have such a hard time coming up with titles for my posts….I’m not sure why, but it is quite the challenge for me.

Anyway! This week has been really busy for me. I have had several meetings for work (no, wait…that was last week!) Ugh. See what happens when you have the whole summer off? Your mind goes to mush. Last week I had several meetings for work. The first grade team got together to plan the first couple of months of lessons. That was good, a little overwhelming, but good. Then Friday, we had a staff meeting to get credit for having January 4th off.

This week I have been working in my classroom. I have it all ready! I decided to change up some things from last year and am really pleased with the outcome. It will be nice to have all that finished so next week I can focus on preparing lessons and activities for the next couple of weeks.

Besides doing work stuff I have been trying to get the last couple of things done on my To-Do list. I finished cleaning the closets, worked on my recipe book, cleaned, and went through all my high school/college/post college pictures and put them in albums! That was quite the job! It was fun though, to look through all the pictures, remember all the fun times. At one point I was sitting upstairs working on the pictures and Andrew was working in the office and I was just laughing and having a great time. He couldn’t stand it and had to come in and see what I was laughing about. Of course, the stories aren’t as funny to him, but it is still fun to share those pictures and memories with him. I feel like my summer has been great, and I have gotten alot accomplished.

Next week it’s officially back to work. The kids won’t be back, so it will be alot of meetings and planning. Whoohoo. I’m excited though, to start another school year. I love my job and I love to teach, so by the end of the summer I start to miss it.

So now I’m looking forward to a fun and relaxing weekend! Y’all enjoy!

It has been a very busy and fun weekend for Andrew and me!

On Friday we went on a dinner date to Carrabba’s. We had a gift card from Christmas and decided to make good use of it! I love their food, and it did not disappoint!

waiting at Carrabba's

After dinner we headed over to Barnes and Noble to walk around and browse. It was nice to spend a little more time out before we went home to watch Ocean’s 11. I love spending time with Andrew….it really doesn’t matter what we do.  But it is always fun to go on dates together.

Saturday was also eventful and busy! We both had different chores and tasks we wanted to complete Sat. morning, but we did enjoy a delicious breakfast together.

Andrew has decided that I need to learn how to drive his car (a standard) and I have been putting it off and making excuses not to for quite a while. The whole thought of it just stresses me out. BUT, he finally convinced me to try last weekend. I did pretty well on my first lesson….I only killed the car three times. We went out again this Saturday to have our next lesson. I am still just sticking to a parking lot, practicing getting the car started. That is tricky stuff people! I was a little frustrated at the end of my lesson, I felt as though I had made no progress. But, Andrew is a great teacher and I am hopeful that I will soon graduate from a parking lot to the street. When that day does come, I will warn everyone so that y’all can stay off the roads!

I also got a new lunch kit from Academy. I think I was a little more excited about that than I should have been. I felt like a little kid going back to school shopping. Anyway, I am excited about it and know it will be of great use to me this school year.

Our day ended with Shakespeare in the Park. Miller Outdoor Theater has all these free events during the summer, and I think other times too. Right now they are showing all these different Shakespeare plays. It’s on the weekends and it’s, get this, FREE! Whoohoo! That’s music to our ears people! So we headed out there to watch Pericles. We had our lawn chairs and snacks and it was just perfect! There was a lovely breeze so it was not too hot. We had so much fun we are thinking about going back next weekend to see Twelfth Night. I think this time we will bring a meal and make it a picnic. Here are some pictures from that night:

waiting for the play to start

snacks

Yummm…java chocolate chunk ice cream…that is a must try!

cutie

Sundays are usually the same for us. Sunday School (oops…Life Groups), church, lunch, relaxing/cutting out coupons, chores, etc. But today, Andrew decided to go through the boxes I pulled out for him earlier this week. I was actually going to tell him I would just put them back in the closet because I know gettting rid of things is hard for him, but he decided to do it. I am very proud!

Andrew cleans like I do

yay for cleaning!

Tonight we have big plans for the couch and watching the last week’s Next Food Network Star (because our power went out and we missed it) and the finale! We find out tonight who wins!!!! I can’t wait!