Thanksgiving Highlights

Thanksgiving vacation was a bit hectic at first, but after I caught up on sleep, it proved to be quite relaxing. I had the priviledge of sleeping in the kids room at our mountain house, with a tent made of sheets for privacy. . . but I wished it was sound proof by the next morning:o)





The first picture is of Joey and his new baby brother Joshua. They belong to my sister Sarah

The second picture is of Timmy and Dana's little boy, Ryan. He is now 4 months old!

The third picture is of Audrey, Steph and Frank's youngest.

The fourth picture is of Maddy and myself. Maddy is 2 years old and a very cheerful little girl! Maddy is my sister's, Sarah, 3rd child.

The fifth picture is of Gracie and Joey, my sister Sarah's oldest two children.

The sixth picture is of Amber and Jordan, Steph and Frank's oldest two children. They put our place tags for Thanksgiving dinner on their face. . . following each other's example!

This last picture is of Derek and my nephew Luke. Luke is Steph and Frank's 3rd child. . . and the most animated!

Thanksgiving vacation was a wonderful time to spend with the family and get out of the usual routine of the school year! Only 3 1/2 weeks until Christmas vacation. . . I think I can make it! How was everyone else's Thanksgiving?

just a few more days

Just a few more days until Thanksgiving vacation and I can't wait for the rest and relaxation. In the meantime, I thought I would post a little something on my blog. On the left is a picture of Audrey, my niece, wearing an outift I bought for her. On the right, is Luke, Audrey's brother, posing for the camera as usual. These pics were taken after a teen activity we had on friday night. The activity was called "The Hidden" and it challenges the teens to be visible rather than hidden when it comes to their witness to Christ. We went through different eras and different areas of the world were Christians are severly persecuted for their faith. The final scene was modern America, and asked the teens if they had to, would they be visible for their faith or would they remain hidden. They heard clips of TV commercials and celebrities putting down Christianity in America, calling Christians irrational and other various such things. It was very emotional and brought things into perspective.

This picture is after the activity as well. . . Luke and I making our silly faces for the camera:o)

The picture of the roses is from Saturday. Derek and I celebebrated our 2 month dating anniversary. Since we could not hang out in the evening, he took me out to lunch and spent the afternoon together. That night I had to babysit, so he came over to keep me company after he was done bowling with his friend, Brian. I am amazed at how God has been working in both of our lives and how I can see God's hand in our relationship.

almost vacation. . . some random pics. . . and a lack of motivation

I am posting some random pictures because I haven't taken any too recently. The picture on the left is of Melissa thacker and myself when she was here in PA a few weeks ago. The picture on the right is of Jaime, Becky and myself at Applebees celebrating Nathan Branine's birthday.

I can tell its almost vacation time. . . the students are overly excitable and I have a serious lack of motivation to keep up with grading and other whatnot like that. Only one week to go til thanksgiving vacation! I'm heading up to our family's mountain house in upstate PA for a few days to spend with the fam. My sister, Sarah, and her family are coming in from Indiana for Thanksgiving as well. Most likely Derek will come along with me, which I am excited about:o) Frank, my brother-in-law, decided that we should play a football game while we're at the mountains. . . in-laws vs. jordans. . . yeah, the teams would be a bit lopsided. Jordans as a whole do not have an over-abundance of athletic ability to pull from (to put it nicely). What are you all doing for Thanksgiving?

Here is another pic of my nephew, Luke. It's his typical "take a picture of me" pose. I know this post is jumping from one topic to the next, but as stated in the title. . . I have a lack of motivation due to the upcoming (and well-needed) vacation. . . which leads to complete randomness and using any excuse to get of my grading for the time being.

mondays. . . blah!

This is a picture of my students this year. It was taken during Spirit Week on our class theme day (tropical theme). Front Row (left to right): Ryan, Julian, Scott and Luke. Back row (left to right): Melanie, Natalie, Steven, J. B., Deion and Seth. For the first month of school my class consisted of 8 boys and Natalie, but in the beginning of October Melanie came and made life a little more enjoyable for Natalie.

Now changing subjects, yesterday seemed to have been a downer for a lot of people. It was monday, first of all, and our grades were due for the first quarter by 8 am today. That would not have been a problem except that our computer system at school has been down for the past week and the grading program was not fixed until yesterday afternoon. I found myself perched here at school until 8 pm. . . did not even go home for dinner. Keep in mind I did have cheerleading practice to run from after school til 5. . . but then back to the classroom to enter grades. Derek was so sweet and brought dinner to me, which offered a well needed diversion from the task at hand. Derek had a long hard day at work as well, Jaime was overwhelmed with her workload, and a teacher friend of mine called with some frustrations that she was having. Today is seeming a lot brighter and I thank the Lord that monday is over, my grades are done, and that He gets you through the "downer" days and brings you to brighter ones!