I made it!

Well, the first week at Lyon was hectic but I survived. I was never given a tour, so I stayed lost almost all week! I found myself, more than once, standing in the doorway of an open teacher's door going, "I'm lost!" I managed to be in the wrong classroom only once and luckily no one else showed up so that was my first clue I was in the wrong room. That only made me 15 minutes late for the class I was actually supposed to be in! They told me that to be successful at Lyon I would need to study 3 hours for every hour of class time. So lets do the math: I have 15 hours of class Monday thru Friday, that means 45 hours of studying , Grand total is 60 hours a week working on school! That on top of all the other things I have to do is gonna be hard. I'm just hoping they were exaggerating! It's been a long week, and I'm glad I'm headed to Jonesboro tomorrow! I have taken in so much information this week that I just hope I can still remember how to get there because every time I learn a new fact I think an old one goes out the other side!

First Bus Ride

The girls were super excited about riding the bus. It was supposed to run at 7:15 this morning. They were so eager to ride that they made me go outside and start waiting on it at 6:35! Luckily, I can sit on the front porch and watch them. I figure this will be the ONLY time we are early. They may be chasing it down before too long! I sat out there and watched them and as the bus pulled away tears rolled down my face. Itchy Kitty Doo jumped up in my lap and loved on me as I sat there. He's so attached to them that I think he was sad too. I sat there and talked to the cat awhile like a crazy cat lady and then went in. I just hate that Tony missed out on the first bus ride. I know he would have loved to sit out there with me, and probably would have shed a tear himself. I know this is just the beginning of having to deal with them growing up, but right now I just want them to be little forever.

First day of school

I took the girls into the school this morning and their different personalities really began to show. Jadelyn started acting like she was in charge from the minute we got there. Her butt kissing was on full force well before the bell rang! She was hugging and complimenting the teacher within the first five minutes. When I left her, she was telling all the other kids what to do, where to put their supplies, and organizing her work space. My little Madelyn, on the other hand, looked traumatized! I don't know if any of you watch MadTV, but there is a character named Stuart on there that so reminded me of how Maddy was acting. She stood in the doorway to her class and froze. When I would tell her to move she would say, " I don't wanna" real soft and quiet. It was just so Stuart! She refused to speak to the teacher or anyone for that matter. She wasn't sad or mad just wouldn't talk. I sat her down at her table and tried to get her to play blocks with the other girls, again she whispered " I don't wanna." I introduced her to the girl next to her and told her she could be her friend. To this she said, " I don't want any friends." (Which is soooo Tony) I eventually walked away as she stared straight ahead with her hair covering her eyes. I worried about her all day because in Preschool it took her 3 days to talk. I just knew she'd end up in special ed by the end of the day! But, our first day is over now and Jadelyn's lips are hurting from butt kissing all day and Maddy talked! Now, tomorrow will be the first ever bus ride so we'll see how that goes.

Sleepy Time

Holy Smokes! I just can't believe the girls are both already asleep! They were both just bouncing off the walls, and now sound asleep. I was a little concerned if they would be able to handle the new bedtime because we are night owls in the summer. We have back packs ready and hanging by the front door, new outfits laid out with matching socks,shoes, and jewelry, and we are ready to go! I can't believe my little Maddy will be in Kindergarten this year. Now, I just have to get myself to calm down and go to bed!

I think we're ready

All the girls in this house are getting ready for back to school time. I went to Maurices today and caught one of the best sales ever! I got 2 pairs of pants, 5 shirts, and some perfume for just over $100 bucks! Then we got the remaining extra supplies the girls needed for school. I keep all of their stuff at Gran-gran's so they won't get into it before school. We brought it all home tonight, and I have to say it was just like Christmas in our living room. A lot of the clothes they had never seen before. I love to sit in the floor with them and get items out one by one. We label stuff, cut off tags, and sort into their individual piles. I get just as excited about it as they do! We had 2 back packs, 2 lunch boxes, 7 new pairs of shoes, 6 packages of socks, 8 packages of adorable little girl undies ( of course we have the days of the week which I'm sure will never be worn on the right days!), 1 nap mat, a zillion hair bows, bands, and pony tail holders, 1 new kid size hair brush, bracelets, necklaces, 2 monkey back pack zipper buddies, 2 complete sets of school supplies, 2 sets of supplies to donate, and enough new outfits to keep them each wearing a new outfit every day for at least 2-3 weeks! Needless to say, Gran-Gran goes overboard! I don't know what we would do without her! When it comes to back to school, I rarely have to buy anything, she's got it covered. She takes each one of them for a "special day" with her and they buy absolutely whatever they want. Now that we have it all organized, they are pumped! They are so ready for Monday neither one of them can sleep!

Open House

Tonight the girls had their open house at West. It was exciting for all of us because of all the remodeling the school has been going through. It is finally done and looks amazing. It's about double the size it used to be. The cafeteria is now the library, they have a gym, dance room, and the whole inside has had a fresh coat of paint. It actually looks a lot different than it did 20 years ago when I was there. Most things have changed, but Mrs. Foley is still the teacher all the kids want. I am so pleased that Jadelyn has her this year and I think it will be the last. She said she is retiring next year. I can't believe she still had the dinosaur Randi and I helped make when we had her! Jadelyn is already in love with her because Mrs. Foley told Jadelyn that her maiden name was Cunningham and she knew how it was to have the longest name in school. Jadelyn can't wait for Monday! Madelyn got Miss Crosby, who I hadn't seen before, but seemed very nice. Maddy, on the other hand, does not like her. She wants to go back to preschool with Mrs. Ruth and Mrs. Brenda. She had them for 2 years and is having trouble adjusting to other teachers. Tonight has just been a little hard on me as well. I can't believe my baby is officially in big girl school. It seems like the other day when I took Jadelyn to her first day, now she's showing me around the school. My, my, my how the years are flying for ole' mom and pops!

Justin is Home!

My little brother Justin just got home yesterday from Tennessee. I have missed him all summer. He is back and wild as ever. Every time he comes home he looks more like his dad. He looks like a mini Jeff! I can't believe how big he is now and going into the 8th grade. My how time has flown!

Bouncy Balls

I collect bouncy balls. I don't really know what it is about them that I like so much. I think it's the cool colors and that they are all different. I have a huge bouncy ball bowl that I have almost filled up. Everywhere I go, especially out of town, I try to pick up a bouncy ball while I'm there. My new prize bouncy balls I just got today. My friend Lisa brought them back from her vacation for me. They are two of the most unique I have ever seen. Thank you Lisa!

Ugly or Cute?

I finally found some black dress shoes in wide. They are very comfy. Now, the question is are they ugly or cute? I am known for my ugly shoes, so is this another pair or did I finally get it right? Please let me know what you think.

Love the Letters

Last night I had Tony hang up my new letters Randi made for me. They look terrific! I could not me happier with them! They just complete my living room. Even Tony was like, damn those look cool up there! Thank you Randi! I tried to get a good picture, but it's hard for me to fit the whole word in. I just don't think the pictures do them justice. They just match my couch perfectly and it's hard to get my couch pillows and the letters all in the picture.

Jacksonport

Yesterday I went camping with dad and Peggy at Jacksonport State Park. We didn't get there 'till late and tried to set up camp but the bugs just about carried us away. Once we got set up and in bed it was pretty late. Then, sometime before 6am this morning my little brother Logan woke us all up using his super loud morning voice. I'm telling you, this child has no volume control in the mornings! He screams inside our tent, "Hey Guys, I think we slept all the way through the next day cuz the clouds are orange!!!!!!!" What he didn't realize was that it was the Butt Crack of Dawn! I hadn't been up that early in over 3 mths. and hoped to prolong it at least another week. Anyway, since I was up to see the sunrise, I took some pictures. The river was really a beautiful and peaceful place to be at that time. Who woulda thought? Anyhow, we fished, swam, went to a park program about butterflies, and of course had hot dogs and smores. I had to leave early to get ready for Jonesboro tomorrow, but I won't miss that 6 am wake up call!

Wild River Country

We have been planning on taking the girls somewhere on vacation this summer, but haven't really been able to afford it. The summer is almost over and we haven't done anything, so spur of the moment this afternoon we up and went to Wild River Country in Little Rock. This was big for us because the girls have never been to a water park. We saved 40 bucks by going after 3pm today! At first, it(I) was miserable! It was hot and crowded and no one explained to us how everything worked. We ended up spending 20 bucks to rent tubes the lady told me we had to have, when come to find out, we didn't need them unless we wanted to go down individually. We lugged those damn tubes around the first 2 hours, up and down stairs, before we realized we didn't have to have them! At one point I thought I was going to get sick from the heat, and we had to take a break. I am really out of shape! After the temp went down a bit, and we lost those stupid tubes, we had a blast!!! The kids went down rides that I never dreamed they would dare do. We went down every single ride, except 2 that were for adults only. I didn't take my camera in, but I got a pic of the girls on the way there. They thought we were going to spend another day in the house and all of a sudden I showed them the website for Wild River Country and said get ready we are leaving in 30 minutes! They were hysterical!

Hint, Hint...

Yesterday, I caught my little brother Logan wearing this shirt. You don't think he's trying to hint around to something do you? O.K. It's true, I talk too much and even he knows it!

Where's Maddy?

The other day Maddy asked me to take pictures of her behind different things in our yard. She kept asking if I could find her every time she hid. The pictures actually ended up being really cute and she loved them!

The Pool

Dad and Peggy got their new pool up and it is HUGE! It's 33 feet and takes up the whole yard. After the pool guys left, it looked like a meteor had hit their yard. Their whole yard is dirt now, but it was well worth it. The pool is awesome!

Learning To Ride

Jadelyn finally talked Tony into taking her training wheels off her bike. He was a little scared of taking them off because of the major hill we live on. We were scared she would get to confident and zoom down the hill full force and crash. Well, she got all geared up in her elbow/knee pads and helmet(Bratz, of course, with matching outfit and bike) and we had a little lesson in the driveway tonight. She actually did pretty good. Although, she said I was "stracting" her by taking pictures! We are going to continue with the lessons in the morning.

I've Spotted a Rare Creature!

It's my husband mowing! Tony ABSOLUTELY HATES to mow. He simply refuses to do it and would rather pay someone to do our lawn. I don't think I have ever seen him mow. Our backyard here is so unlevel, it takes me about 2 hours to mow. It was so grown up because I have been waiting on a cool day. I couldn't wait anymore because I was afraid the neighbors were going to start complaining. Most of them have a lawn service. So, I got my big butt out there and mowed till I thought I was going to have a heat stroke. When I came in to take a break, I heard the mower fire up. Tony was mowing! I must have looked rough! I just had to take a picture. This, my friends, may be a one of a kind photo!