Happy Fall!

Hello all!
Well we have had a busy week with our 2nd anniversary on Tuesday (October 20th) and of course its the end of the grading period so I have been busy working on those final marks. Of course I had to find some time to decorate. I love my witch's hat wreath, it was super easy to make - love my hot glue gun. And my spooky tablescape was just pulling out items from my Halloween box.
Happy Fall everyone! Jerri

Happy October!

So has I said earlier I just LOVE the fall! I woke up this morning, took Belle to her outside pin for some exercise and thought its jacket weather! I can't wait for the leaves to change; since I am sweeping them off the back porch daily.
Our new home improvement project (see trips to Lowes in our future) is a new backsplash! So yes our house is only 1 year old, yes I did pick out all of the finishings, and yes I am just like my sister, I have changed my mind already! So first I thought we should try tile, then after watching some DIY shows, too much messiness! Then I thought I would like the antique tin look, I even brought one sheet to try out, I wasn't sold on the color and now sure how it would look around the windows in the kitchen and over the buffet area. Then it hit me, beadboard! Its different, would work with the design of the kitchen and I could paint it white with a kitchen paint and use molding around the windows and base of the counter tops. My project goal: in a few weeks since some of the tile is missing when we had some work in the kitchen done (one of our cabinets was not level). I guess I need to plan to put that can of paint on the walls that I picked up in July...another trip to Lowes is in store, that can is going to need shaking again :)
Note to everyone - Don't forget the Dixie Classic starts this weekend in WS! My favorite all time candy apples will be there: Miss Debbie's, make sure to check them out! I can't wait for some Pig races and all the great exhibits. Have a wonderful rest of the week family & friends!
Jerri

Oh Belle! and ready for fall!

Well I thought that I had mastered the potty training...guess not, Belle is reverting back to her old ways...so she is spending more time in the tube now-a-days! She spends most of her time when I am home under my feet and in the mornings under the bed (hiding!) So I am getting smart to Belle's ways, I now leave the leash on her in the mornings after she goes out and she never gets under the bed to far so I can always pull her out by finding the end of the leash...yes it is too funny every morning to call Belle and see the leash move from under the bed...silly Belle!
Well I couldn't help myself I have started to pull out my fall decor and I am trying to keep myself from putting out my halloween decorations...and you know my eyes were on those Christmas boxes in my closet as well :) Only a few weeks until the Dixie Classic fair (I can't wait for that candy apple - see the links at the bottom of my blog for my favorite apples at the fair) Then only around of month and Robert and I will be celebrating our second anniversary in October and my 30th birthday a few weeks later. Why am I in the mood for fall, well last weekend my sister and sister in law starting planning our Thanksgiving meal - whose bring/making what and how much fun we all have when we see the entire family, packed around the table, kitchen and at least a few extra rooms but it is the best time to be with your family. I wish everyone a happy fall :)

Labor Day Weekend 09!

Well I can tell I am back in school as I am so tired when I get home everyday. Back to long days and Belle in her crate for most of the time. Although she has been doing a great job she has had some set backs the end of last week and today :( I have the same number of classes as last year but our schedule has lengthen and time is precious throughout the day, so the bag with work to grade or to plan for has grown in size. I haven't completed my painting projects yet but I still have hope for them. New projects to complete, the painting of the laundry room, organizing the workout room, and the new back splash in the kitchen.
This weekend we headed to the lake to visit with Mom and Dad Atkins. We woke up on Saturday morning and packed quickly (I just didn't get to it on Friday night) and headed out with the trailer around 8am. We stopped by Reidsville to drop off the trailer and headed on to Danville and stopped for a biscuit, then onto Clarksville, VA. We got down to the lake and had a great time visiting with family and enjoying the water. Robert had the best time riding the jet ski and wants to learn to knee board next. Our plan was to stay with Mom and Dad until lunch time on Sunday, but my 3 hour nap threw us off and Robert decided he wanted to play on the water a little more. So we headed to Walmart in South Boston to pick up an air mattress; mine has a whole in it...they never last long enough, long story short - we ended up on the futon inside, the back is a little sore after that. But it was a great time and we headed back around 3pm on Monday afternoon - we have around a 2 hour and 45minute drive from the house.
Then I couldn't resist - I started pulling out the fall decor - no Halloween yet but I am sure it will come out soon. We hated missing Isaac's football game this weekend but we are looking forward to see him play as well as Jamison play soccer this year.

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