Lately

Well...we've been up to this and that lately. Nothing too important. I can say with great excitement that the 2010 TAKS testing is DONE! OVER! FINISHED! Whew. I could not be happier about that...me and thousands of other Texas teachers! Hallie has been her same old sweet little self...with a little sickness mingled in here and there. She had some fever, then Croup, then a gross cough different from Croup, then more fever, then a stomach bug resulting in vomiting. It was just a fiasco. On top of that, all the drainage she was dealing with was causing her to randomly gag and vomit (not fun for anyone). Poor thing. We think she's finally on the mend! She still has some allergy issues, but hopefully the Claritin and Children's Mucinex will help that. :o)

All the yuckiness started last Monday night. Jonathan stayed home with Hallie on Tuesday. But she was feeling better and wanted to go to ballet, so we headed on to ballet. Then Wednesday morning she still had fever, so Hallie headed to school with me. It was a fun-filled day and she was on her very best behavior. Then she made it to Miss Pattie's the rest of the week. Over the weekend she took a little turn. On Saturday she woke up with more fever and vomiting. So I headed to HEB to get some "baby juice" (aka, Pedialyte). I grabbed Hallie her very own flowers and "Get Well" balloon. She was SO excited when I told her I had a surprise for her. She's such a sweetie!

We skipped out on church Sunday morning because Hallie still had a fever...she was pretty lethargic all day. Jonathan and I both had a long week ahead but knew she couldn't go to Miss Pattie's on Monday. So we shared the responsibility--we divided and conquered. Hallie was feeling much better on Monday, thankfully! Jonathan stayed with her until lunch time. Then they grabbed lunch and headed to my school. Hallie spent the rest of the afternoon with me and my third graders--something she has a BLAST doing! She helped hand out papers, she told the kids they were being too loud...she was a natural teacher. Haha! She even participated in making a life cycle picture of the butterfly! The kids love having her there and are much better behaved with her joining us--I wonder if my principal would frown upon her joining me every day until the end of the year! Ha!

Here's Hallie with her finished product. She is so cute--she can tell you exactly what each stage of the life cycle is. When she gets to the chrysalis, she says, "This is a hard one..." and then whispers "chrysalis" (because that's what I said to her everytime we went through it). She is so smart and such a little cutie! I love it! She is going to have so much fun at "big girl school" next year! :o)

Now, on a different note that is not-so-cute...it seems our sweet little princess girlie-girl has a smidgen of little boy in her. She thinks the word "poop" is hysterically funny. And she calls everything "Poo-Poo ______". For example, "Can I have my poo-poo milky?" Oh. My. Word. We're hoping this passes quickly. The sad thing is, we know we shouldn't laugh about it, but sometimes we just can't help it. I mean, here's this little girl who demands to wear a dress every day, wants her hair in piggy tails with a headband and a "big bow", and cute shoes; who goes to ballet once a week and then pretends to be a ballerina the rest of the week; a little girl who watches Tinkerbell, Barbie's Princess and the Pauper, and Princessa Ballerina ALL THE TIME...and she thinks the word poop is hilarious (and she'll give a generous nod to "tooting", too). LOL. Oh my. This little girl is a stinker (which she also thinks is hilarious, too.). She's so much fun! :o)

Daddy's Back!!!

Boy, oh boy...we are SO glad to have Daddy back! Jonathan left Tuesday morning for a business trip to Corpus Christi. Unfortunately, Hallie and I were unable to go with him. It's not quite feasible this close to the TAKS test. We would have LOVED to have gone, though! It was an extremely long week without Daddy at home. Hallie was an absolute sweetheart. But I was a mess! Ha! I was sick and sick of school to boot! I don't think Jonathan could have chosen a worse week to be out of town (not that he chose to be out of town). It was the last week of the grading period, so I had papers to grade and grades to enter online. When you have a three year old, that's just not going to happen unless you're capable of staying up past her bedtime (which this past week was a negative for me! Ha!). Speaking of Hallie's bedtime, those papers that so badly needed to be graded were neglected b/c I adopted Hallie's bedtime as my own last week while Daddy was out of town! :o) On top of those papers that were multiplying by the minute, I had a disgusting cold...allergies, I suppose. I couldn't breathe, my throat was sore, I was coughing like a maniac, and I had little to no voice throughout the day. Needless to say, I'm glad last week is in the past!

Hallie and I are extremely glad to have him home safely! He, of course, came bearing surprises--Hallie got a new Tinkerbell doll and some new "chap chap". I got a little Vera Bradley keychain wallet (so cute!) and some "As Seen on TV" Perfect Fit Buttons. Don't laugh, you know you want some too on those days you feel all big and fat! Ha! :o) I love them...haven't really gotten to try them yet, but I'm excited about getting to. Well, I don't guess "excited" is the best word b/c I don't really WANT to feel fat, but that morning I wake up feeling fat, I'll be glad that he got those buttons for me. LOL.

We're thankful Daddy doesn't have to go out of town very often! We miss him terribly when he's gone!

Sweet bouquet of flowers Jonathan gave me for the awful week I was having! :o)

We're SO glad Daddy is home! Jonathan and I were snapping a picture together and Hallie ran up and got right in between us--it was the sweetest thing and turned out to be one of the cutest pictures of the three of us!

Sweet loves!!

Pink anyone?

Pink Reef flip-flops: $12

Sparkling ballet skirt (with ballet shoes and a wand...location unknown): $10

Too small Gymboree top: $8

Polka dot Gymboree fleece: $8 (a Jingle deal!)

Princess crown (with matching earrings and necklace...location unknown): $8

Noticing your child is ONLY wearing pink: Priceless (and also hilarious) :o)

Having a husband who'll take his little girl to a restaurant dressed like this: Unbelievable. ;o)

It's Saturday morning...our favorite time. We're all snuggling in bed. After Hallie wakes up and watches cartoons for a bit, her transformation slowly begins. First, a ballet skirt quickly takes the place of the pajama pants. Then, somehow, Hallie manages to find a t-shirt that's too small to replace her pajama top. Hey, at least she can wear the pajamas another night, right?! :o) After that either a princess tiara or headband (with bow, of course) adorns Hallie's head. This particular morning the feet were graced with one blue Cinderella princess shoe and one Sleeping Beauty princess shoe (the matches to both are broken/lost).

Fast forward an hour or so...Daddy is heading to get doughnuts and Hallie wants to go. It's chilly outside, so we tell her she has to put on a jacket. Daddy says "no" to the princess shoes, so Hallie opts for some sparkling pink flip-flops (thanks, Nonna). As Hallie was heading out the door, I noticed that she was completely dressed in pink--literally from head to toe! Ha!

A Little Lesson

One of Hallie's favorite things in ballet class is when they practice tendu (tahn-dew)...pointing to the side. They practice "the right way" and "the wrong way". Hallie is absolutely adorable when doing this because of the faces she makes (the same faces her teachers make during class) during "the wrong way"...as she's wagging her little finger. Ha! We love it. Hallie is a wonderful teacher, too! heehee

The right way...

The wrong way!

The right way...

The wrong way!

What do y'all think?!

I'll start out by saying this: I live in Texas. Texas is not Southern. Yes, there may be cowboys. There are lots of cattle shows and rodeos. There may be the occasional restaurant that serves sweet tea here in Waco (though not in San Antonio where we once lived). But I just don't think the majority of Texas is Southern. I think there are parts...particularly in East Texas, I think...though I don't really know from experience.

I'm proud to say that I am Southern. I grew up in Alabama and have the accent. Though sometimes my accent drifts away from its slow drawl, it quickly returns with a quick phone call to my sweet momma. :o) How easy it is to slip back into the comfort of multi-syllabic words...even if they're not supposed to be. :o)

My little girl, on the other hand, is not quite a Southern girl. Sure, she's a Texas girl...but not a Southern girl. Here's how I decided: We were driving home today and there was a man cutting the grass in his front yard. She said, "Look, Mommy! Do you see that man? He's mowing the lawn." Oh. My. Word. She totally got that from her daddy because this momma would never say that! Ha!

I made a status update (about the above mentioned comment) on my Facebook page that sparked a few replies and got me to thinking. I know, scary, huh?! :o) Here's my question (and if you have any thoughts about it, please comment! You can always comment anonymously if you don't have a Google account!):

What states do you consider "The South"...what states do you consider "Southern"?

Let me just tell you how I figure whether or not a state is worthy to be called "Southern"...yes, worthy! First and foremost, if it is a true Southern state, I should be able to go into practically any restaurant and order sweet tea. Or maybe just order tea and then immediately be asked "sweet or unsweet". And I don't mean driving through your local Sonic or Chick-fil-A--they're going to have it regardless. Sidenote: One summer I was in Chicago and went to CFA...I got to order sweet tea! It was the first sweet tea I had had all summer b/c we were in Illinois all summer! Definitely not a Southern state! :o) So that's my first prerequisite for being a Southern state.

Secondly, the following phrases should be said and widely understood (I'll translate--um, write what my husband...definitely not Southern would say--them for all of y'all who aren't Southern--heehee). I should also give a disclaimer...I grew up in a tee-tiny town in Alabama, so it's quite possible that these phrases are only said in my small hometown. Still...I consider them Southern phrases. :o)

1. Let me make your picture. (Let me take a picture of you.)

2. It's coming a storm! (It's about to storm.)

3. Are all y'all coming to the party? (Are all of you coming to the party?)

4. Here, carry this box to the car. (Take this box to the car.)

5. She is a mess! (She's a stinker and a handful, but tremendously loved.)

6. I really need to cut the grass. (I need to mow the lawn.)

7. He egged him on. (He urged him to continue doing that.)

8. I'm fit to be tied! (I'm really angry!)

9. I'm fixin' to go to the store. (I'm about to go to the store.)

10. That milk is no count. (That milk is no good.)

11. He lives over yonder. (He lives down the street.)

I'm certain there are a million others I just can't think of right now! :o)

Lastly, a true Southern accent has a lovely drawl to it...nice and slow. Two syllable words become four syllables. It's a lovely, harmonious sound. I love it.

So, here are the states I consider to be Southern:

Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, South Carolina, and North Carolina (though I'm not sure if it's all of North Carolina or not)...and perhaps Virginia, I'm undecided on that one.

What states do you consider to be Southern? :o)

Easter 2010

We have had a wonderful Easter weekend...definitely remembering the true reason for celebrating, our Risen Savior! For the most part, it was a beautiful weekend, and we spent a lot of it outside! On Friday, Rah-Rah and I took Hallie to The Jumping Party (indoor inflatables) and to Chick-fil-A for lunch. It was a perfect afternoon for a very dreary day. Needless to say, after all that excitement, Hallie was tuckered out! The afternoon was spent in a very deep sleep. I didn't even bother taking my camera to The Jumping Party--I figured I'd give Hallie a break from the "Hallie-razzi"! LOL! :o)

Saturday morning was spent trying to convince Hallie she should take an early nap. We had a birthday party to go to at the zoo and Hallie was SUPER excited about that. Bless her heart...it's not hard for her to take naps on the weekend, but it is hard for her to take naps earlier than usual. She was promised a fun afternoon if she napped. We didn't make it to the zoo, but we did treat Hallie to a new park adventure--she LOVED it! It was a fun family afternoon...sad we missed the party, but we had a great time together! After that, Hallie helped (er, or hindered, perhaps) Rah-Rah finish her grocery shopping while Mommy and Daddy headed out to find the Easter Bunny. :o) We enjoyed Easter Sunday worship at our church and then lunch at Rah-Rah and Gramps's house. Because it was quite dreary outside, we had an indoor Easter egg hunt--just as fun as being outside. Hallie got LOTS of quarters. haha. :o) After a wonderful lunch, we all lounged around watching Charlotte's Web and eventually fell asleep--bliss.

Today, Hallie and I have done a whole lot of nothing. Again, wonderful...makes me long for summer days! We enjoyed cartoons while eating breakfast, snuggled up on the couch, ate lunch, visited Daddy at his work, and took a quick nap. Oh yeah--we went to Mommy's school where we tried to get some Easter dress pictures with one of our school bunnies. The bunny was not in the mood. While it was hilarious watching Hallie chase the bunny all over the courtyard, I'm certain it was not enjoyable for Mr. Bunny. Hallie was cute, though, calling out to him "Hey, little fella...come here!" If only we'd have had a carrot...I bet that would have worked. Maybe next time. :o)

Happy Easter weekend, everyone!

Our Easter weekend in pictures--LOTS of 'em. :o)

The Nonna Box!

Because we live so far away from my parents, my sweet mom has always sent Hallie little packages here and there. She "collects" little happies along the way and then when they'll fill a box, she sends Hallie all the little goodies! Hallie recently began understanding the process of a surprise being on its way. The last package Hallie got, she deemed it a "Nonna Box". LOL! So cute...that's exactly what it is. So for Easter, Hallie received a "Nonna Box" and it was FILLED with fun happies! Hallie had a blast opening her goodies...Hallie is so loved, even without all the goodies. But as I said, she LOVES getting things in the mail! :o)

So excited about opening her "Nonna Box"!

On the phone with Nonna, thanking her for all her goodies. :o)