SOLD

After 4 years and a few false starts, our house finally sold.

We got the minuscule check yesterday. But truly, we were just thankful to not have to WRITE a check to the bank.

Whew. Back to one house payment.

Thank goodness!

The Donut Shop vs The Frozen Breakfast Sandwhich

Donuts. I love donuts. It's a horrible addiction I know. Donuts are the reason I carry 10 extra pounds around my middle. It's bad that I know this and yet I can't break the hold they have on me.  Worse, my girls feel the same way about donuts.

Why am I telling you about this addiction of mine? Because like any addiction, its not good for me, I know I should change the behavior, but I DON'T WANT TO!

Anyway...

Yesterday I was in the grocery store picking up a few items and was looking at the frozen breakfast sandwiches. I really like the spinach and egg sandwich. Even better its only 160 calories.

But alas, they didn't have any. And as I looked for other options, I was frustrated with the fact all of the rest were over 200 calories. I was about to walk away when I got a hold of myself and said (in my head, not out loud... at least I hope) are you CRAZY?? You don't want to eat a breakfast sandwich that is 250 calories, but you will eat a DONUT SHOP CINNAMON ROLL???

So, I looked at the options and decided to go with the croissant sandwich! Yup, a whole 280 calories. And it was good!



And there you have it. I made a good choice this morning. Will I make it tomorrow? I don't know. To be honest, probably not. I run on Tuesdays... 4 or 5 miles is 400+ calories burned.. that equals a donut in my book.

Yes, I'm an addict. Good thing I like to run!

A Little Celebration

Maddie and her friends spent Friday night and Saturday doing whatever it is that teenage girls do. Then for dinner we had grandparents come and eat with us.

Here are Maddie with her friends and Doug photobombing the picture. 

Doug grilled and it was delicious. Just as we have come to expect!

Then it was presents and cake.

And a few pictures.

The cake was delicious, a marble cake that was kind of pound cake, kinda not. Soo good!!

And we had strawberry ice cream!! Blue Bell makes Strawberries and Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream that doesn't have red dye #40 in it!! Maddie was very excited. She had never had strawberry ice cream before! I was rather proud of myself for finding it.

So what did the teenager receive for her big day? A hair wand (kinda like a curling iron), a pair of shoes, a bracelet, and money. The days of dolls are done :( It's a good thing I have two little girls or I might be a mess of tears today! Oh how fast my girl is growing up!

Myth vs Fact. and does it matter?

This morning I ran fast. Well, I ran fast for me. Faster than I thought I could. You see, our running group has some fast ladies and then the ones I run with, we run about 30 seconds or slower on our average pace. This morning, I was the only slower one there, so I had to run faster!! And I did. We ran 10.4 miles at an average pace of 10:04 minutes. That is truckin in my world!

And this got me thinking about why I don't think I can run fast and all of the other things that I believe about myself. This last week I've really been aware of my student's and the myths of their world that become their facts.

Like, when do kids decide that they are not creative? When do kids decide that they aren't athletic? When do kids decide that they are not good at math or good readers? It's scary. I am soo determined that my girls will not make destructive myths the facts of their lives!

What myth shaped your education? What myth became your fact? And why can't the myth be that I can run fast? Why couldn't the myth be that I was athletic? Why couldn't my myth be that I was good at math? Because you know what? I might have be athletic, I don't know. And while I struggled mightily in math in k-12, I made an A in a graduate level Managerial Accounting class that was all math!

As a teacher, I know that the words I say have great impact on my students. I am determined that I will inspire kids to be creative. Because really, does it matter if the shading was perfect if the love of creating was lost? No! My job is to inspire and share my passion for art and education. My prayer simply is that even for the students who struggle the most and are the "least talented" that when they leave my room, they would say about themselves that they are creative and that they were "good" at art. Even if this is a myth.

A Teenager in our House.

It feels like just yesterday that Maddie was born. I truly can't believe that she is 13 today. I look at pictures of the day she was born and I vaguely remember being that young! Look at us. Wow.

 

As these pictures were taken pre-digital, I had to take a picture of my scrapbook page with my phone!



And here she is now.

Yeah, my heart aches when I think of how fast these next few years are going to fly by.

 

Happy Birthday to my precious girl. I truly can not imagine my life without my Madalyn Grace.