Thank You's Will Never Be Enough

Hi Friends,

For those of you who do not know. . .for the past six years I have taught in either a class for children with profound disabilities or a class for children whom are nonverbal and diagnosed with severe autism. I ventured out this year and actually taught some children who are typically developing. The class is designed to "catch children up before Knd;" however I continue to have children with special needs. It is actually the best of both worlds. The only downer is that I obviously cannot post pictures in order to protect the children's privacy.

Nostalgia has hit me. . .

Because I am conducting a very intimate graduation ceremony for my 17 children and their families-no one will hear how quite lucky I am to have such wonderful parental support. . .please indulge me. . .

The parents of my children are fabulous! They come to school when I ask and when I don't. They sign their child's papers and help with their homework. They bring in supplies when I am sure they have none of their own. They recite letter names and letter sounds because I ask even though it is in a different language. They ask what they can do to help. They ask what their child needs to study. They ask, simply put! They get their newsletters translated because their child's teacher is inadequate. They give their children love and encourage them even when they have never experienced it themselves. I really wish someone rich was reading this and would donate something-anything to these families. I feel like I need to send this to Oprah or someone of that capacity. Because the truth is, the richest people are those that look out for their children and make sure that day in, day out, they are cheered on, loved, made to feel that they are THE BEST THING IN THE WORLD. And in little Ole North Charleston, we have that at our elementary school. Come visit room 133 and stay a while. You will be amazed!

Thank you to all of my parents. No one can lay a hand on your dreams!

Many hugs and kisses!

Diva On Our Hands

Hi All,

Writing this in blue for the blue sea because that is what R will see for the next 4 months! I dropped R off at the North Charleston terminal this morning. He is on a 120 and I applied for a TWIC card so that I can actually drive him to the ship. . .it is hard to say good-bye in front of Port Police!

Alice Ann has cried since we dropped "Daddy" off. Yes, Sailor and Alice Ann went with so they could give loves, hugs and kisses! More for R's benefit than theirs'! Anyhoo. . .she is the biggest diva for being so small. I felt so bad for them that I even went to Lucia's and bought them each a $6.99 Bully Stick! They both were gone in 5 minutes!

Headed home this weekend for Linds' shower in anticipation of my first niece, the oh so fabulous, Elle Adeline! I love her already!

Pearls of wisdom for the day. . .Never be too proud to pick up a penny!

Love to all!
XOXOXO

Live Each Day To Its Fullest

Hi Friends and Family,

Writing this in Georgia font again, but green for a high school friend who just lost her husband. When I think of her, I remember her wearing a green shirt to school. I can't recall if she did this often, once or perhaps, not at all. I just think of this color when I think of her. Wanting to respect her privacy, all I will say is that she is 30 with two very young children and now a widow. From what I gather, she showed enormous strength, dignity and grace at her husband's memorial and to be honest, I would never had expected otherwise. She is the kind of person that you just look at and smile. She always had a welcoming demeanor and her brown eyes exuded warmth and compassion. My heart aches and my eyes have had tears in them for much of the past few days. I don't want to make this tragedy my own by any means, but when something like this happens, most people selfishly think, "What if that happened to someone I loved?" and then proclaim to never take anything for granted. Well, guess what? That is exactly what I did! R and I spent the weekend on the boat, at the beach and shared 2 romantic dinners together. Not that monetary things make you live each day to its fullest, but with R's schedule we hardly ever get to have "dates." So, it was a treat! And to top it off, R found out today that he is leaving on Thursday for 4 months! Guess it was worth it after all.

Love to all and really. . .live each day to its fullest!

Roll With the Punches

If nobody did nobody wrong then the world would be a better place. . .however, reality says different. BUT, as my fabulous, terrific, wonderful, spectacular professor, ASR, would say, "Please, no kiss, chop!" Sooooo, I am very thankful for the things I have in my life, but. . . Do you know when someone says something to you and you are so caught off guard that you have no time to respond? Well, that happened to me and I tell you-I have a lot that I now know that I should have said. What to do? Take the higher road? Yep, but it is so hard! So, I am going to pull up my boot straps, stay calm and carry on! Just had to vent!

If life stayed the way it was. . .

Love to all!

I AM JENNIFER NETTLES

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, I love Sugarland and Jennifer Nettles! But, what does this have to do with my fabulous fiance? Well, we went out to dinner tonight at 17 North and he went the looooong way to AND from just so I could sing to Sugarland on the IPod! How so sweet is that? And, I should have prefaced this with the fact that I CANNOT sing. . .but love to out loud!

Anyway. . on the way to supper we passed the place where our reception will be held and there was an event going on! The lights hitting the creek were nothing less than spectacular and you could see that there was something special going on even from Long Point Road. I just hope that that is the same thing that happens on October 22, 2010. My mama has already ordered Hunter rainboots for the wedding party just in case it rains, however we will still have the best time ever provided that friends and family are there to share our very special day.

Can't wait for all the special things happening! My dahlin' Hazel Graece (named after my middle name:) will be here on Friday, March 19, 2010.. .headed to Columbus, GA to relish in the arrival and miracle of my new cousin! Best wishes to my little cuz, Destin and her terrific, golfer hubby, Michael Lemmo! Sailor, Alice Ann, Ryan and I will be there ASAP on Friday!

Loves, hugs and kisses to all and as one of my 4-year-olds say: "Shake what your mama gave ya,"
BWG

Multiple Personalities

Gosh, sometimes I think I have multiple personalities??? I sure hope not, but if I do I guess there is nothing I can do about now. The reason I say this is because I go from being reminiscent to real on my posts. I want to remember the year of my wedding as fab, but sometimes reality gets in the way. Like, for instance, I am mad at my mama right now because she wants some of the gift bag favors printed on white paper. White paper????? Hello, you mind as well get index cards! See what I mean? I am getting upset over paper. I think I need to call my doctor but all my friends say it is normal to go through these moods when planning a wedding! Really????? I only know this. . .I want everyone to be there and no gifts, please. I registered because that is what every southern girl is "posta" do, but I really prefer friends and family come to the events rather than feel pressure to purchase a gift. Love y'all all. Toodles and lots of XOXOXO!

Happy February

Hi All! This week has been exciting. I have nailed down the fancy lady who will do my hair for the wedding! So exciting because I get to play dress-up with her in a few months. For all those brides out there, go to ashandcobridalhair.com! She is fabulous.

I also heard from R (he would like me to refer to him as this because he wants nothing to do with the internet, Facebook, blog, etc). Soooo, R is on his way home. The last I heard, they were traveling through the English Channel and to the Acores to avoid bad weather (don't know if that means snow/icy waters or gale (sp?) force winds)!?

My mama has also designed/ordered bag tags for guest bags. Who would have thought that this would be exciting, but it is! The bridal party gifts have come in thanks to my mama's bff, the lovely, Jaye Goddard!

Now off to a Super Bowl partay. . .I am cheering for the Saints only because their QB and running back are hot!

XOXOXO