Back in School

Where did the summer go? It felt like June, July and now August have just gone by too quickly. We have survived the first four days of school and my classes are packed to capacity. This week again my room is HOT...the heat is blowing in my room, yes it is driving me crazy but I was promised that it would be working next week (Let's all hope!) We have all received our info on preventing flu and I have been keeping my students on our clean up chore chart...aka...kapers! I have new books to plan out lessons this weekend and I see many fun ideas in store - I hope!
Well Robert, I and Jamison are off to get doughnuts and bowl - I just hope supper comes first :) Tomorrow we have Isaac's first football game and Melissa's birthday. We will also be heading to Brooke's 16th Birthday, where the ELVIS impersonator will be there....love it! Have a great weekend everyone!

Pilot Mountain - Day Trip

A few weeks ago we took Isaac and Jamison to Pilot Mountain for the afternoon. I love this picture I was able to capture!

Making Doughnuts, an Easy Treat for Anyone!

Well my new favorite quick treat is making semi-homemade doughnuts. All you need is a can of small biscuits (store brands work great and save $), deep fryer, white sugar, cinnamon, and powered sugar, and one medium brown paper bag (for shaking). You open the canned biscuits and separate. If you would like you can use a plastic drink bottle top to make a hole in the middle of you biscuit (make sure to save those holes for more treats). Place doughnuts in hot deep fryer (or pan with hot oil -at least 2 inches deep). Flip over with wooden spoon after 30 to 50 seconds and repeat for side two. Drain from oil and carefully place in brown paper bag that contains sugar, cinnamon and a bit of powered sugar and shake! You can make your doughnuts however you would like...easy to dip in chocolate and add sprinkles as well. Place in plastic storage container or just eat immediately. Enjoy!

Was that an "O" or a "Q" - my first vision exam since 1993!

Since my vision insurance is ending in December due to changes in coverage I thought it was best to make an appointment. I have been having some problems seeing at night and with an hour commute each way I was beginning to have headaches once I would get home. I had not had an exam since 1993 when I was hit in the eye with a hockey puck playing gym hockey in middle school (my yearbook is full of photos with my black eye - of course it was the day before picture day that my accident would happen) ; it seems that they same eye has some near-sightness and with looking at computer screens all day it was best to order a corrective lens. So in 7 to 10 business days I should have my first pair of glasses. I thought I would have beat the curse of glasses since I was the only one that did not have to wear them in my family. I think I can tell that 30 is only a few months away!

Pain and Paint

O me it has been an interesting few weeks lately. About 3 weeks ago I decided I was going to start painting some at the house. I first started with the front door painting it a dark red (Posh Red) from Lowes. I had taped up the door's glass and handles and after the first coat decided it would be much easier if I would take the handles off. After two more coats Robert called me that he was in Galax Va and had been hurt while delivering. I quickly placed the deadbolt back on the door and hurried to meet him to take him to the doctor. He has a pulled bicep and almost two weeks late is still having trouble but is doing better. But on Friday Robert woke up and began to be sick, a weekend and a bottle of pepto he is a little better today. I have about a week and a half left of my summer vacation and I do hope I will be able to get some paint on the walls in our laundry room (or better know as Belle's room). I picked a granny smith apple green color called (Bella Mint); I loved the name and it seems perfect for Belle - I am hoping it will be like the paint commerical where the green calms the children, just in this case I need it to be Belle that becomes calm during the day. Take care everyone! Jerri

Its Almost Wedding Time!

Well we are only hours away from Wayne and Tabitha's wedding. Wayne & Tabitha have planned a wonderful weekend, we will have BBQ rehearsal supper on Friday and Saturday we will have many last minute things to finish up, I hope everyone will stay as relaxed as they have been and will enjoy the day. Donna and I already talked to MOM to make sure she has her pantyhose ready so there is no last minute running here and there. We are all very excited for them both. I can't wait to share photos sometime next week of the wonderful event! So stay posted!

Coupons = Big Savings

Okay well if you know me you know I love a great deal. I am a bargain shopper and the better deal the better for me. This weekend I worked to re-organize my coupon folder (yes I have one that I keep with me all the time) and between our errands to Target and to the grocery store I was able to save $30 just in coupons this weekend. If you are interested in how to get started...first grab a Sunday paper, lots of coupons to be had and I buy my Sunday News & Record paper at Walmart in Reidsville for the bargain price of $1, then I spend about 10 minutes cutting out and organizing in my folder. Afterwards, when the grocery store ads come out I look at their fliers and make my lists, then I go through my coupon folder and organize by store. Another great site if you don't mind printing your own coupons is CouponBug.com - lots of great deals that are emailed to you once a week.

Garden Update - last Friday Robert & I got up early to go and pick green beans with Robert's parents in the garden...3 hours later we have 7+ bushels of beans...that means around 80 quarts canned...so needless to say we were helping with stringing and snapping beans all day...and we both had the best time! Bean picking, my new summer work out!

Belle - This weekend we took Angel back to Reidsville, Belle is missing her mommy but we had the best time with the girls. I hope Belle continues to do a good job on her own, we will soon see.

Baking - I am in need to make some Zucchini Bread this week from all the wonderful veggies of the garden. Need a receipe just email me...its super simple!

Sleepover with Jamison

We had a sleepover with Jamison last night. We went to Pilot Mountain to ride the go-carts, we had Wendy's (the playplace at MacDonalds was closed) and then we all headed home for the sleepover with Jamison, Belle and Belle's mom (Angel). The pictures were too sweet not to share.

Happy Fathers Day to all the dads, papas, brothers and uncles out there!

School's out for Summer!

What rock group sang that song? I don't know but I have been singing, "Schoool's out for SUMMER!" since I was able to pack up my room on Tuesday, June 16th. It was another wonderful yet challenging year. I was so blessed to be able to work along side outstanding teachers and I have learned so much from their guidance and direction inside and outside of the classroom. Please everyone keep our teacher's in your prayers as there have been so many cuts in places I may also feel the hit from the budget cuts on education in our state. If you have not expressed your thoughts to your local government, our state representatives and not to mention our Governor please do so.

I also have a big CONGRATS to Joshua! My eldest nephew (Donna's son) graduated from Rockingham County High School this weekend. It was so exciting and such a wonderful event to be able to share. I was at his Kindergarten graduation and as I said this weekend...it really and truly did feel like yesterday that he was in that small cap and grown and now he is getting ready to head off to Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA. Joshua I am so very proud of you sweetie!

As for Jordan (Josh's brother) he will be a Junior this year. Katie and Travis (Rhonda's child) will be at Rockingham Middle; Katie in 8th and Travis in the 7th. And not to mention that Isaac will be in the 2nd grade already and only 1 more year of daycare for Jamison before he is in school. They are all grown way to fast and my hair is greying way to fast as well! :)

We have also had a wonderful resolution to the problems we have been having with Belle when we leave her during the day...it seems she is just lonely. We have borrowed Angel, Belle's mom and my Mom's yorkie. Well of course I wish she could stay with us to see the change that we have had in Belle this week. She is going to her peepee pad, she has not destroyed any toy or door this week...she is so relaxed and calm, it seems she was just lonely during the day without us. Now if I can just get her not to jump in our bed in the middle of the night, she will be an even better dog.

Good news on the garden - It's GROWING! We should start picking and pulling things in the next week. I will keep you all posted and hopefully put some photos up soon.

Take care,
Jerri

Happy Birthday Robert

Hello everyone,

Well we have just celebrated Robert's 31st Birthday, on Friday, June 5th. To celebrate this wonderful day we had our family join us for a bbq to try out Robert's grill that I gave him for his birthday. We had a great time and we couldn't have had a better day, it was wonderful! Of course mom needs to give me a lesson in making hamburger patties and thank goodness for Wayne Jr...he was our grill master! We then ended the weekend with Robert heading to the Bennett reunion (on his Dad's side) and I headed to Reidsville for Wayne and Tabitha's shower. They received lots of wonderful things and we were able to visit with lots of family that we have not seen in awhile. They have about a month and a half to go...its very exciting. We also got to see a sneak peek at our church's new sanctuary. It is going to be beautiful! Well school's out in 4 more days! Yippe! Talk to everyone soon! Jerri

Our Home Improvements

Hi everyone,

We have not blogged lately due to our home improvement projects we have been working on. The weekend before Easter Robert and his brother built our back deck off the house and while I was out of school for Easter, Robert and I built the front deck. Yes I used the nail gun (after I was sure I would not nail someone!)
We have also worked in the yard and are just trying to make decision on how to landscape around the house.

Here is Belle on the new back deck:

Our newest project is planting the largest garden I have ever helped with. We have worked with Robert's parents to plant our summer garden...we have 4 different tomato plant options (around 52 plants total), cabbage, squash, cumbers, onions, silver queen corn, sweet yellow corn, watermelons, cantaloupes, zucchini, beans, and bell peppers. I hope I can learn to can and pickel this summer :)

To all my friends and family that are mothers: Happy Mother's Days!

Take care,
Jerri

Happy Easter

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all doing well and ready for a wonderful holiday. I ask that you all truly think about the meaning of easter; the day our sins were paid for.

I am looking forward to spending time with our families and enjoying our time together.

Happy Easter everyone!

Jerri

Dad's Birthday and more

This weekend was my Dad's 64th birthday. So Mom, Wayne, Rhonda and Donna pulled together a cookout after church on Sunday to celebrate with everyone. Dad claims that he must only be 46 now (64 backwards...you are how you feel).
It was wonderful for us all to be together. Its been a busy year so far. Wayne and Tabitha's wedding in only a few months away and Wayne moved out this weekend into his new rental home outside of Reidsville.
But no worries, Mom and Dad still have the furry kids at home (Tuffy, Angel, and Gus)...the biggest yorkies you have ever seen.
Still no sign of the mystery animal...but I still have my eye out for it. This weekend I am going camping with a friend's Junior GS troop. So I found the sleeping bag tonight, my camping supplies and my goal...one small bag...no over packing this time for me :)
Plus we are all super excited...Krispy Kreme is opening in Stanleyville this week...this could be dangerous.
Have a wonderful week everyone! Jerri

Three Years Ago...

Three years ago on March 25, 2006 my life was forever changed when Robert called me for our first date. I had just gotten over a terrible flu-like cold and I knew he had asked for my phone number from our wonderful friends (Steve & Mary).
When he finally called on that Saturday afternoon and asked if I wanted to go out for supper sometime, of course shocking myself I asked "what about tonight?". He met me for supper at Cracker Barrel and I remember playing checkers on the front porch for the longest time, we had breakfast for supper, and then we rented a movie to end our evening. I could have just talked to him all night and instantly I knew that I had met the man I would spend my life with.
I am so blessed to be loved and be in love with such an amazing man. I thank the Lord everyday that he brought us together and than we honor our Lord in our marriage and our daily lives. I couldn't imagine being happier or more blessed than I am today.
May you be filled with love and blessings everyday.

Mystery Animal on Taylor Road

So a few weeks ago Robert was trying to describe this animal that he saw on the side of the road on his way home. He said it couldn't have been a squirrel since it was a blond color. He said it may have been a very small cat or ... we just had no idea. Well Saturday afternoon on my way home it was spotted! Yes we have a blond squirrel in the neighborhood. He was sitting on the side of the road and sticks out like a sore thumb. He was playing with some of his "grey" squirrel friends and I just couldn't believe it.
With excitement I came home letting Robert know that I had to seen the creature and us feeling very special told his family of our find. Well it seems that everyone has seen the squirrel. Now if I can only get Blondy to move down the road a few yards and take up residence in the front yard. I am on a mission to grab a photo of the squirrel and I will be sure to post it for all to see.
Take care everyone and I hope you have a wonderful week.
Jerri