Cold, cold, cold... Dang you, Polar Vortex!

I'm over winter. So very over winter.... It seems that every first of the month has been accompanied by some nasty icy weather, and March was no different.

I'm tired of seeing these read warnings on the weather page! On the bright side, it means lots of time with the kiddos. On the down side, it means lots of school make up days!

Scout would hang out in the snow all day if he could!

Thanks to you all

Thanks to all of you for the thoughts, prayers, and beautiful flowers that you sent to my Nanny's funeral. It was such a blessing knowing that I have the support of such a loving family. Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness.

Remembering Nanny

This past Sunday my grandmother lost her battle with lymphoma. We discovered in December that her cancer had returned and she was not going to attempt treatment for this second go round. She wanted one last spring at home and God blessed her with one of the most beautiful springs that I can remember! Several times over the last few months we have thought the end was getting close, but last Thursday was the real beginning of the end. I was lucky to get to see her during the last few days and talk with her and her last words to me were "I love you."

For 32 years I have called this woman my Nanny and she was my Nan. I was the first grandchild and Nanny was always there for me. Even though in recent years her personality has changed and she was no longer the same Nan, she always had a laugh for me. So as we celebrate Nanny's life in the coming days, I want to remember the woman who always supplied me with frozen pizza and gallons of ice cream, gave me hideous haircuts, warned me not to run too hard on the carpet because Poppy was watching, and taught me to love flowers. Her creek holds so many memories for my childhood friends and me. I spent so much time there that it was my second home. And even though I didn't visit as often as I should in the past years, she always greeted me liked no time had passed at all.

I love you, Nan! :) And cancer SUCKS!

Life Legacy

Etta McCormick Weaver, 74, of Princeton, KY died Sunday,
August 19, 2012 at her home following a long illness. She was retired from
Princeton Health Care as a certified medical technician and a member of Cedar
Bluff Baptist Church.

Weaver is survived by three daughters, April
Freeman & husband Kenneth, Princeton, KY; Tracy Frazier & husband Randy,
Dunnellon, FL; Bobbi Jo Dircks & husband Mike,Hazelton, IN; five
grandchildren, Tiffany Freeman Rogers, Nick Freeman, Steven Frazier, Andrew
Frazier, and Kerri Beth Frazier; four great-grandchildren, one brother, James
McCormick, Evansville, IN; and one sister, Christine Young, Princeton, KY.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Bob Weaver, and parents,
Harvey and Lilly Dossett McCormick. Funeral services will be held
Wednesday, August 22, 2012 at 11:00 AM at Morgan's Funeral Home with Bro. Mark
Faughn officiating. Burial will follow in Lebanon Church Cemetery. Visitation
will be from 4 to 8 PM Tuesday at the funeral home.

You can view her online obituary here - http://www.morgansfuneralhome.com/sitemaker/sites/Morgan1/obit.cgi?user=688741Weaver

Walking around the yard was one of her favorite things to do.

Celebrating

For the past couple of weeks I have been thinking and praying about a new job opportunity that I was hoping was going to come my way. After a couple of interviews, a lot of praying, and a lot of discussions, I was offered a new job. I have been in the classroom for 10 years and have had so many wonderful students (and some not so wonderful... ;)) and have made many wonderful co-workers who are also my friends.

One of these friends was offered a job as a principal at one the elementary schools in our district which left her position vacant. I am happy to say that I am now Dyer County's Special Education Consulting Teacher for the middle schools and high school.

Basically my job takes me out of my classroom and puts me in a position that allows me to focus on making sure that our students are getting the services they need and that all of the paperwork is getting done. It is a very big job with very big responsibilities and I am sooooo nervous because I know that I will be forced into situations that are definitely out of my comfort zone as I mediate between the schools, students, and parents. But I am looking forward to the challenges of this new job and helping my students in a new way.

To celebrate, we all went out for Mexican (of course!) and had a fun time. It was the first time we had been out as a family in forever and it felt relaxing and good!

Thanks to all who have congratulated me on this new opportunity. Keep me in your prayers over the next few months as I get settled into my job and learn the ropes! :)

10 Years Ago

Today is our 10th Anniversary. I can't believe that 10 years have passed since Bradley and I got married. We have been so blessed to have bought a beautiful home in our little town and sooo super blessed to have Ava and Harrison. I told Bradley that for our 10th anniversary, I wanted to renew our vows in front of an Elvis impersonator, but maybe we will shoot for the 15th now! :)

Happy Anniversary to my husband. Yes, you totally get on my nerves and we can fight like cats and dogs, but I wouldn't trade you for anything. You are my love. I love you! :)

Post from our 4th anniversary. Here

This photo was taken in May. :) We are so awful about taking pictures together!

Who's Going to Watch My Kids on Christmas Day so I can go see this?

Just kidding (okay, maybe not), but I was so stinking jazzed to see the trailer for Les Mis. I don't mean that crappy version they made with Uma Thurman (I think) a few years ago, I mean a musical based adaptation of Les Miserables. I think this may be my all-time favorite musical.

It was the first musical that I ever saw on stage while I was in high school and I know the words to almost every song. The CD played on repeat in my car (second to Titanic of course!). We sang one of the songs in choir and I LOVED it!

So, nerd alert, I am sooooooooo watching this when it comes out!

Bradley's Update

On Mother's Day Bradley started to notice some pain in his feet. The pain continued to get worse over the nest couple of weeks and was concentrated in his feet, but started to spread to his hands. He finally went to the doctor and was told that he most likely had Lyme Disease. The doctor started him on some antibiotics while they waited for his blood test results. Even after taking the antibiotics, the pain continued to move throughout his body and he would develop these itchy bumps under his skin all over his body.

The results came back negative, but the doctor said that even though the test said negative that he still could have it and to finish up his antibiotics.

Fast forward to a few days after stopping his antibiotic and he started to have some issues with dizziness and was having a hard time walking. That Saturday afternoon it got so bad that he finally let me call an ambulance. He literally couldn't stand up because of dizziness and nausea. After a little treatment in the ER they were set to dismiss him, but he still couldn't stand without the dizziness. They decided to admit him to the hospital and see what could be done.

The doctor he got said that the symptoms he was having indicated that he was suffering from psedutumor cerebri (see the picture below). Apparently this is a side effect that sometimes comes along with the antibiotics that Bradley was on and his body was thinking that he had brain tumors. Top that off with an inner ear infection and he was having severe vertigo issues.

So after 4 days in the hospital his vertigo was under control and he was able to be released from the hospital. He was still having some dizziness spells and was very weakened from the whole ordeal. As we left the hospital, he made a joke about all he really needed was something like shingles to top off the whole experience.

Well guess what...on Friday he developed a rash and I took him to the doctor and sure enough, he has Shingles! Bless his heart, he is in bad shape. Shingles are rough stuff! But he is slowly and surely on the mend. Hopefully in a couple of weeks he will be back to his regular self and able to get back into a regular routine.

Thanks to all of the thoughts and prayers and for everyone who has called, texted, or helped us out in any way. It is greatly appreciated!

This is Making My Baby Girl laugh today...

This morning as we have been watching Smurfs, this commercial keeps coming on and Ava absolutely dies laughing. So funny to her...





P.S. I have been taking more pics lately and I am hoping to get some new posts up very soon! :)

Hello, Old Friend...

Dear blog,

I am sorry that it seems that I have abandoned you for almost a month. I can't explain why I haven't found the time to update you other than that I am so far behind on downloading pictures, that I am overwhelmed anytime I think about it.

I have now starting downloading the pictures I took over the holiday season in all it's busyness. I am working on sorting through them and even though it is January of 2012, I am going to post a recap of Christmas 2011. :)

Love,
Tiffany

P.S. If anyone is still checking this blog, I promise to have some catch ups soon! ;)

Midnight Movie Maddness

Last night, my friends, Courtney and Susan, and I, braved the late hour and crowd to go see the latest installment in the Twilight move saga. We headed out extra early to get in line for our popcorn and seats. The last time we did a midnight movie was when the last Twilight movie came out and it was during the summer. This one was after a long day of school, so I wasn't sure if we would make it or not!

We did and the movie was fantastic! Loved it. Great movie and great company!

However, upon arriving home I discovered that Harrison had thrown up in his bed and was covered in vomit. I woke him up, stuck him in the tub, Bradley changed his sheets, and then I tried to make myself go to sleep since it was after 3.

I had very little sleep and since I had originally taken off today to take Harrison to the doctor, we are stuck at home seeing if this is a bug of some sort or just a result of his sinuses bothering him. Anyway, I hope that the day passes by without any more instances of sickness. :( I also hope that I can squeeze in a nap! :)

Around the Rogers' House

I actually took these photos one evening at the first of this month. We have just been so yucky lately that I haven't taken many photos. These were just some of us hanging out outside and messing around with the garden. We have been lucky to have a lot of tomatoes this year and a few cucumbers and eggplants, but have been unlucky with squash.



The others were of Ava and Bradley playing Battleship one evening. Ava was excited to get to play this with her Daddy.

This didn't come from our garden, we have just been enjoying watermelon this summer. :)

Our Garden

Just a few recent pics of our garden. Ava is super excited that the eggplants are growing (not that she will prob eat them!).

Wrapping up the busiest week ever... or so it seems!

I wrote this last Friday to sum up the craziest week ever! I am just now 5-25 getting around to posting this whinefest!

Like I said earlier, the weeks towards the end of school are the busiest ones. Add to that the work I am doing on my Masters this year, and I am just overwhelmed. To make it even better, add on a little bit of the sinus yuckies and a sore throat, and I have the recipe for the perfect week.





Just so next year at this time I can look back and say, nope, I was as busy last year, I am going to do a little run down/whining about my week so far.





Monday - spent all day at school preparing for IEP meetings (IEP's are 20-25 page documents on each student that detail their special ed services)





Tuesday - IEP day - meetings with parents and teachers ALL DAY - Dance after school with Ava - Supper meeting with NHS officers to plan next year's activities - Went home and baked 2 batches of Oreo-Stuffed Choco Chip Cookies - Kids up late!





Wednesday - Read End of Course English I test to students (OMG! SOOOOO LONG!) - Finish IEP's - Retirement party set up - Retirement party after school - Helped Bradley in the garden. Wrote a 1500 word paper in less than 3 hours





Thursday - Read End of Course History test to students - Work on more sped paperwork - Have worst night with kids - Kids bathed and in bed by 7:45 and yes, it was still light out! :)





Friday - Dance recital dress rehearsal right after school with Ava. We still have to get new tights and black shoes at some point.





All throughout this week I have also tried to straighten up the house and put things into some semblence of order, but it hasn't really happened yet. Oh well.... dance recital and final soccer game/awards tomorrow. I am soooo tired already....

Everyday Life

Just some recent everyday life shots.

This was Ava before we left for Nana's one morning. You can't see that she has 3 ponytails and she is wearing lip gloss. She loves to smear on her Ariel and Princess and the Frog lipstick.

When our washing machine broke, we were without a washer for about 4 days. They were the longest days ever. I am so thankful for this invention.

Straight up Momma's boy

Loving the bubble wrap

Note the fashionable hair style

Loving some sweet baby feet!

She said that she "worked hard" and needed grilled cheese and tomato soup.

You can barely see his road rash that he gets from crawling. Plus he has this beautiful slobber blister.

When he gets into her bed, he makes a beeline for the stuffed animals.

A gift from Aunt Bethany