Weekend Recap

This time of the year is BUSY BUSY for the Weavers.  It seems like we have something on our calendar for every day.

I love it and am completely exhausted by it all at the same time.

This past weekend was filled with family, friends, and fun.

On Friday afternoon my parents along with my niece and nephew drove up for a visit.  We had plans to go see the Christmas lights at Silver Dollar City but the weather kept us away.  Instead they came over to the house for dinner and left Mikey & Ellie for a sleepover.  

Ellie was not too sure about Lib & Lincoln.

And Mikey wanted to be Lib & Lincoln.

Aunt E was sleepy so we all piled into the bed to watch a Christmas movie.

 He could not look any more like his daddy!

I hope she always plays with his hair.

Mikey was the first one awake Saturday morning and he was super cuddly.  I LOVED it!

Ellie was not ready to wake up quite so early.

She popped right up when she heard me say breakfast but she didn't last long.

They are now 3 1/2 and we had a first on Saturday.  I've never taken these two to the store by myself but we got brave and ventured out to Dollar Tree.

We had to do something.  Aunt E's toys are all in storage somewhere.

They were really well behaved and picked out lots of fun toys.

After lunch and more play time my parents came and picked up the kiddos and said goodbye.

I instantly missed them but I also instantly took a nap.  

Saturday evening we headed to hang out with some friends.  One of the best parts of this move has been living less than an hour away from Andrew and Heather.  Her Andrew and my Andrew were college roommates.  We have loved picking up where we left off all those years ago.

We made homemade pizzas and visited until way too late.  Their kids had never made homemade pizzas so it was fun to watch them assemble their masterpieces.

These are the only two pictures I got of the night.  We are too busy talking and laughing and I forget to snap one of the adults.  Maybe next time.

Also...can I just say how much I love watching my husband with our friends' kids.  Melts my heart every time!!

We rounded off the weekend with a fabulous play put on by the kids at church.

It was sweet and funny and all the things a kids Christmas play should be.  We especially loved seeing our three neighbor girls on stage.  

And now it is one more week of work and then the travelling begins.

Weekend Fun!

Oh what a weekend!

We had a fun filled weekend and none of it had anything to do with the holiday.

Andrew and I pretty much just ignored the fact that it was July 4th.

It wasn't intentional.  It just happened that way.

Thursday evening the most exciting thing of my blog life happened.

I met my best blog friend for the first time.

Not only did I meet her, but she and her husband stayed at our house for a couple of nights.

I found Miranda's blog several years ago through a link up Kelly  (Kelly's Korner) hosted.  We immediately hit off and became "fake" friends as my husband calls it.  Ha!  She and I just seemed to have so much in common and it wasn't long before we were texting and hanging out via technology.

She was visiting Arkansas over the long weekend and it worked out where she and her hubby could stay with us for a few days.

We had so much fun.

I dare say our husbands hit it off great!  48 hours of golf talk.  

Andrew and I are sad they don't live closer so we could hang out more often.

Friday we were telling her about the van we planned to buy.  One thing led to another and before we knew it this happened...

We are now the proud owners of a Nissan NV.  

Plenty of room for us and our eight kiddos!

As we drove it home that afternoon Andrew and I would just look at each other and laugh.

That thing is huge!

Our youngest son has nicknamed it Big Blue.

Seems fitting.

Saturday morning we had to say goodbye to Miranda & Shelby.  :(

Andrew and I then spent the day with two of our boys.

We picked up our oldest son that morning and went to the driving range.  I'm not expert but I think he did a great job and will be out there playing before long. 

We picked up two of the girls and our youngest son for lunch.  

I love watching them interact with one another.

After lunch we took the two girls and our oldest son back home so that we could have an afternoon date with our youngest son.

Bowling and ice cream were on the agenda.

Sunday afternoon we were able to spend some time with our middle son after church.  

We had lunch and then went to a park to play.  He and Andrew threw a football around while I sat and watched.

Sunday on the way home I told Andrew I felt like I was going to be in a constant state of exhaustion for the rest of my life.

I love dating our kids, but the constant driving is exhausting.

I cannot wait to have them home so we can be with all of them all the time.

I cannot wait for them to meet all their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

I cannot wait until I can share their pictures with you.

Prayers for a friend

It's no secret that leaving HG and starting a new job at QES wasn't easy for me.  I was leaving my best friend and starting over at a new school.  I was a little nervous to say the least.

And then I met my new coworkers.  Ya'll they are seriously some of the sweetest people I have ever met or worked with.  They immediately welcomed and accepted me into their family.  They have been patient with me as I learn the ropes and have answered my countless questions.  

It has been such a blessing to be a part of QES and to work with these people.

My coworker and friend, Theresa, is battling cancer right now.  It seems wrong to use the word battling because she has been so positive about everything.  She goes to treatment bright and early and then comes to work and spends her afternoons doing amazing things with our G/T program.  

Theresa has played a huge role in making my transition to a new school not only smooth but enjoyable.  She is an amazing person, coworker, teacher, and friend.  

I have been blown away by you and the prayers you have said for Andrew and I and our someday babies.  They have been what gets me through the rough days.

I know Theresa has had rough days and will have more has she continues to beat this cancer.  Would you please join me in praying for her and her family?  I know it would mean the world to her.

New Year's Eve

We brought in 2014 with style.

The getting dressed up to stay home, soup eating, board game playing kind of style.

It was perfect.

I decided to get a jump start on trying out some Pinterest recipes.  Of course I found a new recipe to try instead of one that I already had pinned.

This pin claimed to taste just like Wendy's chili.  Of course I have no idea what Wendy's chili tastes like but Andrew loves it.

Confession: I don't really like home made chili.  I prefer cheap chili out of a can.

So I made a crockpot of chili.  And then Sinclair & Amanda arrived.

The chili didn't have enough kick for Sinclair or Andrew so they started doctoring it.  I'm not sure what all they did to it, but I'm pretty sure it was no longer the original recipe by the time it was eaten.

But it still looked delicious.

And there wasn't any left this morning so I'm going to assume that it tasted delicious too.

Our sweet friends, Stuart & Laura, also joined us.

We were so excited that they could see our new home and spend the night with us.  It is always loud & fun when we get together with these two.

It's been so long since we have been able to spend time with them so it was precious time of catching up.

Chris & Krystal completed our group for the evening.  Aren't they a beautiful couple?

We had such a fun time.  Since we didn't eat until around 8:00, midnight seem to come so quickly.  

At least for most of us.  There were a couple that just couldn't make it.

It was just too much excitement for the LBs.

Not only were we celebrating the beginning of a new calendar year, but we were also celebrating a new year for Stuart & Amanda.  They both had birthdays yesterday.

Cake was obviously a MUST for this celebration.

It was around 2:30 this morning when we all decided to call it a night.  We had endured all the board games, crazy stories, and laughter we could handle for one night.

After everyone had gone home today, we had nap time.

The Christmas decorations are still up.  The house is a wreck.

But we are enjoying resting and watching a few bowl games.

That other stuff will keep until tomorrow.

From our family to yours.

Happy New Year!

With a Little Help From My Friend

I have really been struggling with school related things.  I've been creating things for my classroom trying to trick myself into being excited.  But the excitement just hasn't been there.

I have spent three or four days working in my classroom.  It is finally starting to feel like my classroom.  For the first few days I felt like I was intruding on someone else's territory.  

It was hard.

Working hasn't been as much fun this year.  I've been working alone.  No crafting, shopping, or bouncing ideas around with Traci.

I know I sound like a small child whining about not teaching next door to her anymore, but ya'll she is my best friend.  I miss her.

Plus I've never dealt well with change.

This past week my friend, Amanda, accepted a job in the same area.  She will be teaching 7th and 8th grade Math plus one other subject  We've been talking about decorating classrooms, discipline strategies, and everything else.

She came with me to my classroom today to help me decorate and work.  Poor girl had no idea what she was getting herself into.  HA!

Little did she know, I had a HUGE project for her.  I knew she would do a great job.

I had three full size filing cabinets and a small one in my classroom.  They were old and hideous.  They have bothered me since I first saw them.  I knew instantly that I wanted to give them a make over.

Then I convinced myself that was a project for next year.  I had other things I wanted to spend my time/money on.  But every time I went in my classroom, these ugly cabinets bothered me.

These pictures don't do the ugliness justice.  They were so dirty and gross.

Yesterday, I decided that I would cover them with duct tape.

I may have spent thirty minutes or more looking at duct tape in Wal-Mart trying to decide what colors I wanted to use.

Now my filing cabinets looks like this!!

This is in large part due to Amanda.  She is the duct tape artist.  I took the handles off and she did all the duct tape.

It was a full day's job.

You will notice that there are only two filing cabinets now.  Half way through, Amanda suggested we throw the others out.  HA!!  

Honestly, I can't see myself ever using them all.  And now I have a space for my mini fridge.  YAY!

I am so in love with them.  They look a THOUSAND times better.

The best part though was spending the day working in my classroom with my friend.

Today was sooo good for me.  I needed it.  It was nice to have someone there to help me and be a sounding board for my thoughts and ideas.  Even if she thinks I'm little crazy about decorating. :)

I am looking forward to repaying the favor and helping her in her new classroom.

It's nice to have a friend amidst all the change. 

New Friends

Last night Andrew and I had dinner with some new friends. We met them Sunday at church during those awful few minutes where you are instructed to greet the people around you. I hate those few minutes. For Little Miss Social, I'm sure it's great. For me...not so much.

Either way our new friends, Jim & Katherine, were sitting in front of us at church. We shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. They are going to be hosting a community group in the fall and are seeking couples to join them.

Jim & Andrew have been emailing with one another this week working out the details leading us to dinner together last night.

I wasn't really looking forward it. I'm a bit of an introvert. Making conversation with people I know isn't always easy. Making conversation with complete strangers is next to impossible for me.

It turned out to be a lot of fun. Katherine is Little Miss Social. Talking to her was easy. They've been married five years and have no kids. They have two dogs who are like their kids. We found lots to talk about it. The conversation was easy and it flowed.

The boys talked too. About what, I don't know. I was way too involved in my conversation with Katherine.

I love friends. Sometimes it seems like we are the only non-newlywed couple without kids left. I wonder if there are other people out there in the same stage of life. And by choice.

They are hosting a little get together for the couples who might be in the community group in the fall. I'm looking forward to meeting the other couples and making some new friends.

Locks of Love & More

Wow!! It feels like forever since I've let you in on what's going on with us Weavers on this blog. See, I'm doing Project 365 again this year, but instead of scrapbooking it I'm blogging it. So even though I haven't posted here in awhile, I've been blogging about our day to day lives. It makes it hard to put it here, because I feel like I'm being repetitive.

But since I haven't told you yet, let me fill you in on what's been going on in our lives this past week. Tuesday night I had the honor of keeping my niece, Amelia.



The evening started off smoothly. Amelia was showing me her house (cardboard box) so Jill snuck out. We played for probably a minute before Amelia realized Jill had left. She instantly went over to the front door and started trying to turn the doorknob.




Ummmm....break Aunt E's heart!! Then came the tears. The tears went from just a few drops to full out screaming her little head off very quickly. This went on for the first hour. Baby Fever....Cured! J/K! The girl had three shots and no nap. I'd be emotional too! We finally sat down and watched her praise video. It was the only thing that stopped the crying, plus I kinda like her all snuggled up next to me.




Once she calmed down she said the best thing EVER!! AUNT E! Every time she said it I would just smile and laugh and tell her to say it again. Music to my ears.

Of course as soon as Jill came home she was all smiles and was being silly. Girl just needed her Momma!

Before I went to keep Amelia Tuesday afternoon I went to the salon and had all my hair cut off. I woke up Tuesday morning and decided that I couldn't deal with any longer. Basically I was having a bad hair day, an acne bomb had exploded on my face, and I was feeling very pale. The hair was the only thing I could fix instantly. Andrew's wasn't too thrilled about it since he likes my hair long, but he knew the day was coming. So after school I drove over the salon and told them I wanted 10 inches gone and after that I didn't care, just make it cute.





It feels so much better. Andrew had to go out of town so he hasn't seen it down and fixed. He'll get used to it...and then it will be long again. I'm donating it to locks of love. I feel so blessed that I can do this. I was looking at pictures of recipients on their website and just started crying. It's such a little thing, but I know it is going to be a big blessing to someone.


Oh and in between the salon and keeping Amelia a strange cat got in our house. It was laying by the front door when I got home. I had my hands full and though I tried to stop it, it followed me anyways. It immediately went under our bed. Took me 10 minutes to get that stupid cat out of my house. Sorry cat lovers, but you know I'm a dog lover.


Last night I sat in the gym all night. My 7th graders have been asking me to come watch them play basketball since October. Last night was the first time they played at home. Since Andrew was out of town I figured it the perfect time for me to go. I watched both 7th grade teams and both Jr. High teams. We lost all the games except Jr. Boys. They played a very exciting game and won.



Tonight was a blast. I was able to get together for dinner with my little brother, my BFF from high school and her husband, our band director from high school, and Jennifer and her girls. Jennifer happens to be both my friend and Madison's (band director) niece. The only thing that could have made it better would have been if the husband and Jen's husband could have joined us. They work together and are both out of town for a couple of days. Boo!!

It was good to see Mandy, my BFF and Madison again. It's been forever!! I really enjoyed visiting with Jen too. Up until now it's been like we were just facebook/blog friends. We've never been able to just hang out. We are a lot alike in several different ways. She is such a sweet women and friend. Her girls are absolutely precious. Peyton kept telling me I had water on my head and Dr. Pepper on my chin. I'm still trying to figure out what that means.




Laila sat by me and kept trying to touch my leg. She was playing shy. If I looked at her or tried to talk to her should would turn away. I couldn't talk her into taking a picture with me but she was too cute.



And baby Mika was just as happy as could be. Don't you just love her big blue eyes.



It was a good meal with even better company.




So that's been our week. Busy but fun! I have a ton of papers to grade this weekend, but I plan on getting some scrapbooking and shopping done too.

Hope you have a great weekend!

A Heavy Heart

My heart has been so heavy today. There are numerous family members and friends that I have felt burdened to pray for today. Everything is my life is going beautifully right now, yet I feel this cloud looming over me. I have yet to be able to voice my thoughts, my concerns, my prayers into a sentence. I don't have the words to tell God what is own my heart.

The wonderful thing about my God is that he already knows. He knows my heart and he knows the struggles of those whom I feel so burdened for. He knows about the woman whose marriage is struggling. He knows the mom who had her 11 year old son tell her he wants to live with his dad. He knows the young newlyweds who have a 3 month old baby in the hospital. She can't keep food down and is losing weight. Doctors haven't been able to find a solution. He knows the woman who lost her second husband this week, the two men who lost their dad.

These are only a few of the struggles that are happenIng in the world around me. God seems them all and many I don't see. It's one of those times when I ask the question Uncle Kevin posted about recently. How is God possibly going to use these things for good?

God has put on my heart to love more this year. It is something I feel I'm supposed to work on in 2011. He has asked me to really step up this year and show his love to the people around me. I want to be the one who loves on the ones who are too often see as unlovable. It's easy to love some people, others are more of a challenge for me. I'm trying to learn to see people the way God seems them, to love them despite the fact that they might be a little different from me. I personally feel called to show God's love to a few family members who don't know Christ as far as I know.

Two of those people are the young newlywed parents I mentioned above. The father called me tonight with an update. Their baby girl, Alyssa, gained 11 ounces since yesterday. The doctors don't know what caused the change. I told him I knew WHO caused the change. It was God, an answer to our prayers. I can't help but smile as I type this. I LOVE when God works miracles!! There is no other answer for Alyssa's improvement other than God.

It was reassurance to me that even though I haven't been able to find the words to give to God, he knows my heart and still chooses to answer those prayers. He truly is an awesome God. He still answers prayers and he still works miracles.

Sunday News

***It's snowing!! It's coming down hard. I love it! I'm pretty sure there will be no work for me tomorrow. Andrew says if it keeps coming down like this and continues to stick, he will be working from home.


NEWS UPDATE: NO SCHOOL TOMORROW!!!


***Though I haven't blogged about my goals for 2011, I have them. One of them is to get and keep our house clean and organized. Darlene over at Time-Warp Wife has a housekeeping schedule. I'm using it as my guideline. Of course I have some major cleaning to do before I can keep a maintenance schedule like this one. I made myself a calendar and I'm hoping that will help me. I hate cleaning, but I love a clean house. Since we can't afford to pay someone to do that for me right now, I'm left with no choice but to be a grown up and clean my own house. :( I had big plans to work on this Friday night and Saturday, but we ended up taking an overnight trip to Tulsa. The husband had to do so me work at the Tulsa office so I tagged along. I graded papers for the first part of the day and then went shopping the second part of the day.

***Do you remember this post about new paintings for my living room? Well, they are finished. And they are beautiful!!! AND HUGE!
This picture doesn't do them justice. I absolutely love them and can't wait for the husband to get them up on the wall. My sweet friend, Amanda, is the artist. God has truly given her a gift. She does amazing work. She even painted a baby shower gift for me on very short notice. By short notice, I mean I asked her Wednesday and the shower was Thursday afternoon. Yeah, she rocks!!! She recently started a blog so you too can have some of her artwork. She graduated in December with a degree in education and is currently jobless. She is taking advantage of this time to share her talents with you. Her blog is Splash of Design. It's brand new so I'm not sure she has pictures of her work posted yet, but keep checking back.

***Every time I decide it's time to cut all my hair off I have a good hair day and change my mind. I let it air dry on Thursday and wore it wavy. I got so many compliments. So many of my kids walked into class Thursday and told me I looked pretty. So sweet!!!

***I should have a new look here at the old blog in the next day or too. Miranda over at Little Sailor Design is in the process of creating my new design. The drafts that she has sent me look great! I'm excited about it. She did a FAB job. If you are looking for a new look, check her out. She does a great job, is easy to work with, is fast, and is affordable!! I give her two thumbs up. My new look is going to contain my very own button. It will be my first one. Be sure to grab it when you get a chance.

Lunch With a Friend

I just got home from having lunch with one of my very sweet friends. Her name is Jennifer, but I know her as Slack. Slack is her maiden name. It was how I was introduced to her. And even though she is married now, she will always be Slack to me.

Slack and I met almost seven years ago when we were both working at Sonic. I was a newlywed and going to school. She was in college as well and home for the summer. I tell you this because the first few years of my marriage were not our best ones. Slack was there for me when I was upset with the husband. We got to be very close.

Now even though we live only thirty minutes apart, if that, we rarely see each other. We are both busy girls who just don't seem to take the initiative to get there. We've been known to call ourselves bad friends for this very reason.

Monday I decided I wanted to have lunch with her this week while I'm still on Christmas break. And today was the day. We met, ate, and enjoyed each other's company. After talking longer than we meant, probably making her late back to work, we left with promises to do it again soon. This is how we always leave each other. The last time we made this promise was in June.

This got me to thinking about relationships on the way home. I have a lot of relationships in my life. Some are closer than others. There are still some people in my life that I struggle to be completely open and honest with. Maybe I will never be that way with these people.

I hold a lot in. I keep a lot of things to myself for fear of what others will think. I know that I care way to much about other people's opinions, but I can't seem to change that about me no matter how hard I try. This affects my relationships. There are very few people that I can go to with anything. Slack is one of those people. She has seen my best and my worst and she loves me anyway. For that I love her.

Relationships are a two way street. There have been several times when I've told my husband "So and so didn't speak to me at all tonight." He always replies...then you didn't speak to them either. How true! We get out of a relationship what we put in. Relationships are work, at the least the good ones are. They don't just come naturally.

I have a relationship with God. It fluctuates. Sometimes I feel much closer to him than others. I know this is because of me and me alone. My God doesn't move. He doesn't change. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. (Hebrews 13:8) I love that about Him. Don't you? When my relationship suffers with God, it isn't because he isn't trying. He is always there, always desiring to spend time with me. But am I? Do I? Unfortunately the answer is no. More times than I would care to admit, I put my relationship with God on the back burner, thinking I'll do that when I get a free moment.

He should come first. All other relationships, all other things should come after my relationship with God. I've grown closer to God in 2010. I believe that. But I also no there is still so much room for this relationship to grow. My prayer for 2011 is to grow even closer to my Heavenly Father, to know Him a little better, to love Him a little more. Through growth in this one single relationship, I believe all my other relationships will grow as a result.

How are your relationships?

30 Days: When You're The Best of Friends

Today Katie is asking us to share pictures of our friends. My husband and our families are my closest friends.

Some of my other friends in no particular order....

My high school BFF. I love this girl! She is such a beautiful Christian woman. We always have a great time together.

The Springers...Stuart, Laura, and Jude. An amazing family. These three guarantee a good time.

The Winburns..Sinclair & Amanda. I love these two. I can completely be myself around them. Great friends who would do anything for us.

Friday Night Fair

Andrew and I won tickets to the state fair this year. To say I was excited would be a major understatement. I love the fair!! Andrew...not such a fan. I've never been able to sweet talk him into taking me. This year though, I finally won. We had free admissions and our good friends, the Winburns also won tickets.

Friday night was the night. I was easily the most excited out of the four of us. We decided to buy armbands since that was much cheaper than buying individual tickets.

We started the night with the ferris wheel. I think this is the only ride my husband truly enjoys. I on the other hand hate the ferris wheel. I will ride roller coasters, things that spin, or anything else for that matter. I love all rides. All rides except the ferris wheel. It totally creeps me out. I'm not a fan of heights and the ferris wheel just takes to long to come back down. I buried my head in the husband's arm and stared at the our feet.

Sinclair of course loved this and and kept messing me. He and Amanda were as happy as a couple of larks.

I did a little better toward the end of the ride.

After the ferris wheel we grabbed some yummy fair food. After burgers and dogs it was time for more rides.

We rode the scrambler which is by far my favorite fair ride. I laughed so hard my stomach hurt. Something about the scrambler makes me giggle.

We had to ride the carousel of course. I'm pretty sure we were the only adults on the thing who weren't holding a little kid. We enjoyed every minute of it...some of us more than others. :)


After a few more rides the men were finished. They had had enough and were feeling a little sick.

We girls were feeling good and managed to ride a couple more rides before the boys said it was time to go home.

I loved it! But I'm pretty sure I will have to find someone else to go with me next year. I think the husband is done with the fair.