Dear Loralee and Christine

Dear Loralee,

We met by chance last year during the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge.  It was my first time writing everyday.....ever.  Your thoughtful and encouraging comments kept me motivated to write each day and I wrote that month all but one day.  I didn't know then that the Lord would keep our friendship going and now a year and a few months later, I treasure your emails and comments on my blog just as much as I did the first day we "met".  I believe the Lord gives us who we need, when we need them and you have been a treasure.  I love that the blogging world brought us together.  Two ladies from two different countries. You are a blessing and I'm looking forward to our continued friendship in the years to come!

Love and Hugs!


Dear Christine,

Today..... many years ago (like 30 something) our momma gave me my 4th sister.  You were the cutest thing and I was so so happy to have another sister in our house.  We shared a room together when you were younger and I remember changing all (probably not all) but lots of your diapers.  It's been a joy to watch you grown into an amazing mother, cook, and now... HOMEOWNER!!!!! YAY!  Watching your joy is a true blessing.  The Lord has brought you so much good, I can't wait to see how His plan continues to unfold for you.  Thank you for the joy you bring into my life even though we aren't together often, you are always in my heart.  I love you little sis!  Happy Birthday!!!!!!

Dear Sleep

Dear Sleep,

I know it's summer, but we still aren't working well together.  Most of it is my fault.  Binge watching tv shows I dvr'd during the school year, then falling asleep in the chair.  I know, I know.  It's summer and I'm supposed to be catching up with you.  I guess I just need to make a change and get to bed earlier. So sleep, here I come. Let's get on better terms. :)

Dear My Love....

Dear My Love,

Thank you.  Thank you for standing by me.  You cared about me.  Asked me how I was doing, if I needed anything.  You stayed with me at the hospital.  You took our girls to vbs and still made it to the hospital before I went into surgery.  You tried to coordinate everyone's schedules to be sure everything was covered.  I love you.  You were the only person I wanted to be with me. I love you with all my heart.

Dear Kidneys

This month Michelle has challenged herself to write everyday in July.
I'm not sure if I can do it, but Michelle from Big Time Literacy is doing it.  So I thought, why not. Let's try.  I needed a little boost to get back on the wagon, so here we go.

Dear Kidneys,

If I would have known a long time ago about how mistreating you, not drinking enough water, and eating too much sodium would have ended up with me in the hospital in surgery to bust up Bertha (my 8mm by 5mm stone).... I would have definitely made a few changes. So now, I have a stent.  Another reminder about how bad I've treated you.  Fingers crossed that the changes I'll have to make will help us be friends again and I won't have to live in fear about when the next stone will drop. Luckily, I think all the remaining stones are passable on my own. :)

May's Daily Gifts

sweet hugs from our firsties today....

making it to 3:20 with most of my sanity in tact. :)

watching my two youngest interacting with my students....

our middle daughter, who wants to be a teacher, working with a few of my students....

Speedy Freezes after school and bellies that probably didn't need them. :)

a coach that took the larger group tonight..... leaving me 3 six year olds.  It was so nice because I just couldn't handle a larger group tonight. What a blessing.

May's Gifts

Only one more wake up for school.  I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength, right?!?

Hanging out with Amelia...

Lunch from our speech pathologist. She's taking a year off, but hopefully she'll be back next year. I"m going to miss her.

Rain...  I haven't decided why we need so much of this blessing right now, but we're getting it and there's not much of an end in sight.

Rain Boots... they keep my feet dry. :)

Teachers.... they have loved and cared for my girls just as I would for this school year.

Our babysitter... It makes it so easy for me to be a working momma knowing that my girls are loved, cared for, and put on the bus each day. :)

A sweet firstie who is going to be with us again next year said, "I can't wait to be in first grade again!" Such a cutie!

May's Daily Gifts

Report cards that are finished!!!!  (Well... they have to be printed, but I'm finished. NO more late nights.)

My job... what a blessing to touch the lives of young author's everyday!  And I'm doing what I love with people I love to work with!

Laughter of those same children...

Storms rolling in.....

Cereal....  I eat way too much of it, but sometimes that's the only thing I can manage for dinner.

My heart that beats so strong everyday.  It pumps my blood, continues to sustain my life, and gently pumps my chest to remind me it's there.

Comments from Loralee each and every day!  I look forward to them.

May's Daily Gifts

Our last Monday.....

Report Cards.....

A firstie offered me one of his birthday treats.  A Rice Krispie Treat, um... yes!!  So sweet!

The Reds beat the Indians. :)

The service worker at Toyota, so helpful today.

May's Daily Gifts

Celebrating my Aunt and Uncle.... 50 years of marriage!

The 50 year Lovebirds are... My aunt in the white jacket and my uncle in the other suit jacket.

Catching up with my cousins!

Healthy children.. for the most part.  This little one was up all.night.long. coughing.

 

Making it home before these skies opened up last night.

Sleeping in a little today....

Dinner with my mom and dad tonight....

Watching Amelia use God's gifts to play volleyball tonight.....

May's Daily Gifts

Look at all the beauties of God's creation we saw today....

Bowling with co-workers after school.  We had so much fun together!

Final spelling tests that are almost given.  I only have a few more to go!

Traffic....  I know it can be annoying and some days it annoys me, but I've really made an effort to be calm through it and just enjoy the ride, no matter how long it takes me.

Administrators who care....  there was an issue after bowling and one of my administrators was still at school and helped me and the other drove back to school!!!  I'm truly blessed to have a big, loving school family.

Comfy rocking chair....  it's where my daughter and I slept last night because she was coughing her brains out.  She finally stopped and it was nice to snuggle up with her all night.

May's Daily Gifts

Thinking about how this little guy will be a SENIOR next year! We had so many great memories from his childhood.  We were the bestest buddies.  He still calls me... Bia which melts my heart.

May's Daily Gifts

Sunsets....  They are so beautiful.  I just have to take a deep breath and take it all in.

Dinner....  When we can eat dinner together it's a beautiful thing too.  Right now is one of our busiest times and these are few and far between.  I do love praying together and thanking God for the food we have in front of us.

Guardian Angels....  Today I saw a woman merge onto the interstate, immediately cut over to the middle lane, and almost hit another car in the fast lane.  She then corrected and I thought for sure she was going to roll.  But she was safe. (My heart was jumping out of my chest)  I thought she'd slow down.... nope.  Just kept swerving in and out of lanes.  I'm so happy her guardian angel was with her today.

Hard-working students....  We are down to 9 days of school remaining.  I'm feeling it, they are feeling it, but we're all still working through it!  So proud of the effort!

Friends....

May's Daily Gifts

The end of my week turned into a lot of craziness.  Waking up early and being gone all day, literally all day.  Like returning at 10 pm late.  So my gifts have been many over the last three days.  I know I can't remember them all, I should have written them down.  Here are just a few.....

1.  oxygen... I know I take it for granted, but everyday I wake up and take a deep breath in, thanking the Lord that He allowed me to continue living out the story He has planned for me.

2. family...  My mother-in-law came for a visit.  We haven't seen her in awhile due to scheduling conflicts, but visiting and catching up has been nice.  My husband and I actually got to go to Lowe's BY OURSELVES to get a lawn mower. :)

3.  challenger league...  This is a league in our city that is for children with special needs.  My daughter's team sponsored a team of special needs kiddos.  It was beautiful to watch these kids be so happy and excited.  What was even more rewarding was hearing two of my girls ask if we could come every week and watch them. My heart was bursting.

4.  ice cream...  I don't even think I need to explain this.

5.  conversation... Conversations with family, friends, children.  I am so blessed to have people to chat with.

6.  morning, weekend workouts...  I didn't workout at all last week because of our schedule and I had another kidney stone, so I didn't want to knock anything loose, so I'm back!  My body and mind missed it.

7.  sun...  I'm forever thankful for this bright, shining star.  It makes me happy to see it's light, especially after a long winter.  The warmth of the sun is something I soak in daily.  I love to close my eyes and take it in.

8.  freshly cut grass...  Our grass was so long because our starter for our mower snapped last week.  Those rows are so pretty and green. Winter is almost forgotten.

9.  pizza... I think we had pizza every day this weekend.  All those ingredients that come from the earth, harmoniously working together in one dish.  I could eat pizza everyday.  Today we went to Two Cities Pizza.  If you are ever in Mason, this place is worth the wait. You have your choice between New York and Chicago Style pizza.  I LOVE the Chicago style.

Yes my friends, that is bacon.  They did not hold back when putting that on my pizza today.  I will be dreaming of this place every night.  Come to Mason and head to Two Cities Pizza!

10.  these girls...

I hope you were blessed on this Mother's Day with LOTS of gifts from the Lord. He is so, so kind and loving.  He learned from His Mother.

May's Daily Gifts

1... Watching our oldest having so much fun performing in Schoolhouse Rock Jr.

2...  Singing with our youth choir. They are doing an anthem for Mother's on Sunday and they asked some of the momma's to sing with our kiddos. It's going to be beautiful.

3...  Water.  We are so lucky to have clean, free flowing water whenever I turn on the faucet.

4...  My minivan. While I still despise being a minivan momma, this fellow has toted us around to multiple events over the last 6 years.

5...  A chat on the way home with my momma.  Even though we don't live too far away from each other, it's hard to see her and my dad often.  I seeing them, but love connecting with them any way I can.

May's Daily Gifts

His gifts are forever reminding me of His goodness.

1.  Fog. I never thought of it as a gift, but this morning it covered Cincinnati like a blanket and kept us warm.  It also gave me a chuckle because our youngest was cracking up at how the cars just "disappeared".

2. Health. We have girls that are healthy enough to be active. What a blessing.

3.  Penny Loafers. Today I had a visit to a doctor and a man was wearing these loafers and he had the pennies in them!!!! Memories......

4.  Hubby coaching. What better way to show God's love than to serve others.

5.  Sweet friends who don't mind if I share too much information.

May's Daily Gifts

This will be short and sweet....

1... a jacket that I picked up off the floor.  Thankful we have money to provide those simple things for our kids.

2... compliment about our team from administration.

3... lazy night on the couch with shows and grading.  Only one more class to grade!

4... jammie pants

5... waking up to rain and falling back to sleep to it softly hitting our window.

May's Daily Gifts

Today... coming home to cold, waking up because I had to, and going back to work made life a little bit trickier today.  But there was still a LOT of goodness in this crazy day!

1...  First graders who were worried because I wasn't at school for 2 days.
2...  Hugs from firsties who genuinely missed me. :)
3...  Bathing suit lines that remind me of the warmth and light He gave us while in Florida.
4...  A smile from my firstie Birthday Buddy.  I gave her a shell that I found on the beach for her.  That smile is just priceless.
5...  A conversation with Bridgette about how much we love each other.  She also put her heart (made with her sweet little hands) into my heart by pressing that heart onto my chest and then she asked me to do the same to her.  Sweet, sweet girl.

May's Daily Gifts

1.  Flying above the clouds.  Looking down at all His glory in wonder.

2.  A *few* m&m's from my Sweet and Salty Mix.  Made me miss my girls...

 they would have eaten the chocolate. 

3.  One last trip to the beach with these ladies.  Just to say goodbye. :(  It was so, so sad.

4.  A sneaky little lizard that was in the house. My sister saved him and put him back in nature. 

5.  Home at last to find a momma nesting in our magnolia tree. Hopefully one day soon we'll hear the cheeps of little baby birds. What joy that will bring!

May's Daily Gifts

1. Love Boat...the black cherry ice cream. I've been dreaming about it since December.  

2. Waiting on the dock for the boat to come and get us. What else do you do but take 1,000,000 selfies?

3. A panoramic view of the beach.  

4. One of my birthday presents from my teacher friends. It came in handy.  :)

5. This is kind of how I feel right now.  :)

May's Daily Gifts

A day that started with rain and ended with sunshine.

Birthday wishes from family and friends because my actual birthday is today.

Laughs with my sister and friend.

Feeling loved. So loved.