Skip and LouAnn

We spent the evening with Skip and LouAnn enjoying pizza and laughter! You will have to notice the picture of Laura and George on the refigerator (which was for my benefit)! I just ignored it and they didn't say a word.

Jimmy and Katie

Katie and Jimmy are growing up so much. Katie is in the 5th Grade and Jimmy is a 7th Grader. I am so happy that they are family!

Snow, Snow and More Snow

I have just finished cleaning off our double wide, steep driveway for the second time today~have I told you all how much I would love living in Florida. I love to walk on the beach and collect shells~ I do not like shoveling snow and chipping ice!
I'm hoping with our new 4 wheel drive that we can make it to church tomorrow morning and then attend Paxton and Tanner's Christmas program in the evening. There have been so many things cancelled over the last week, but my family really can count there blessings because we have all continued to have our power on. I have several friends up in St.Joseph, MO that have not had power for a week. I think I heard something about winter starting on the 22nd - I don't think Old Man Winter has looked at the calendar.
I hope all my family and friends are warm and safe this December night!

I'm thinking a Miracle!

This new program surely has a mind of it's own - maybe while I am iced in I will be able to figure it out, it sure likes to block everything and this old dog is not smart enought to jump over the firewalls. The kids are all out of school today and so many programs cancelled today~ I just hope it all clears out before the Christmas break.
I just enjoy all of my cousin's pictures so much - I am determined to master this. Right now everything I scan to blog comes up as wallpaper, so I am enjoying the pictures of Jimmy and Katie - just can't get them to you all.
Hope you are staying warm, we have dogged the big bullet like Oklahoma and right now it is just raining and melting away the 1/2 " of ice. The temp is staying above freezing right now and should drop back down this afternoon - it is really pretty outside right now ( you just have to take my word for it)!

Welcome to my 2nd Retirement!!!

I finished my long term sub. job just before Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful family gathering here at the house - just our kids and grandkids. Then on Friday we headed down to St.Louis for a great visit with family and friends. We did go over to Skip and LouAnn's house for one evening. I just can't get over how their kids have grown and we sure enjoyed our evening with them.
I have a new computer and at this point I'm not greatly impressed with the new Vista program. It is really giving me fits, but I will try to post this and a couple of pictures of Skip and his family.

Today is dedicated to my special Cousins!

ATTITUDE IS EVERTHING

There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror and noticed she had only there hairs on her head.
Well, she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today", so she did and had a wonderful day!
The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed she had two hairs on her head.
"H-M-M" she said, "I think I'll part my hair down the middle." -so she did and had a grand day!
The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed she had only one hair on her head.
"Well" she said, "today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail." So she did and had a fun, fun day!
The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head.
"Yeah!" she explained, "I don't have to fix my hair today!"
ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING
Be kinder than necessary for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly~
Leave the rest to God!

I'm Still with the 5th Graders!

My long term sub has been extended to November 20th - then I will consider that I am retiring for the 2nd time. I really think this is God's way of telling me..."Winnie, your really do not miss teaching!"
Thanks to each and every one of you for your blogs - I do read them daily at school and they are the highlight of my day....I love each and every one of you cousins, and I really appreciate your humor. Please bear with me while I try to finish this teaching commitment...I will be back to blogging when I can stay up later.

Smarter than a 5th Grader?

This is my second full day with 31 5th Graders. They have started a new math series and I can tell you all that I AM NOT SMARTER THAN A 5th Grader!! Mike taught Math for years and this new series uses terms that he has never heard. Would you believe ~ I had to "google" for some definitions of math terms - oh give me strength!

Oh Happy Day!

I guess until this morning on Patsy's post I didn't realize that a very special cousin was a Virgo with me. Happy Birthday Helen!!!!

Early Time with Prayer:

I awoke early to pray for friends and family that are going through so many things this day.
May God give them strength and hold them tightly and uplift them at the moment there is a need. Through him I can do all things because no matter what "I know that God Loves Me!" Of course you know that he loves you too!

41 Years Today!

Today is our 41st anniversary - that almost seems impossible. It looks like we are going to have a beautiful day today, much nicer than the heat we had 41 years ago. The fun part is that I can truly say our love has grown and we are learning to communicate better this last year - God is just awesome when you ask for help. He has truly blessed our marriage and our family.

Just a Little UPDATE:

Last week I loved the cooler weather and decided to work out in the back yard pulling weeds, killing poison ivy and just doing some general upkeep of the bird feeders and bird bath. Well - my foot and knee stayed in one position and I moved in another which caused immediate pain and a "POP" which is not a good thing at my age.
So...... I've had my turn at the Dr. thing, knee brace and a cane. They haven't decided exactly what is wrong yet through x-rays and a MRI. I should hear about all this tomorrow.
Today involved a test called an EMG to see if they can figure out why my feet hurt so bad and are always numb. The test was truly not pleasant but I survived and now know for sure that I do not have nerve damage to my feet and legs.
Monday I saw the vampire lady and I will get those results some time this week - honestly, you go for one little thing and the next thing you know you are having every test they can think of. I really don't think they want to believe I am cancer free -

Here are some great ways to deal with the burdens of Life:

*Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.
*Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
*Drive carefully~ it's not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.
*It may be your sole purpose in life to simply be kind to others.
*Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance!
*Since it is the early worm that gets eaten by the bird~sleep late!
*The second mouse get the cheese.
*You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
*A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.
FINALLY:
*We could learn a lot from crayons~Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.
Have an awesome day and know that someone has thought about you today.....I did!

Friendship is an AWESOME thing!

Being with friends that have known you almost all your life is an AWESOME thing. Laughter really heals the soul and refreshes you. Below are some of my dearest friends ~ Becky, Ruthie and Pat.
We all gathered after a year of planning and we had a fantastic time - I use to think my parents were old at this age - but most here are over 65 and they are not old physically or mentally. God has been good to each of us!

Happy Father's Day!

To each any every one of you wonderful fathers - Happy Father's Day!
I think my husband treasures being "Pop-Pop" more than words can ever
say - he is so giving and loving to this family. It is wonderful to see the children
light up when he comes into a room - I think part of his secret is that he usually
has some type of treat in his pocket!

We all came throught the ordeal!

Tanner is doing well - not too much bruising. We are so thankful that this sweet little guy is really handling his injury and does not seem any worse for the wear. I think things like this incident are much harder on grandparents.

Sam and Tanner are true buddies!

What a Day this Saturday has been!

We came back from the camper on Thursday because of severe storm warnings and I have no desire to be in a tin can if a tornado passes through!
Our Cindy is taking her Missouri Praxis test today and Kris is taking a huge auditor/computer tech test ~ so we had Sam last night to spend the night.
Cindy had punched in the wrong code for the test when she signed up, then had to wait and see if she could get into the test this afternoon on stand by. Kris took his 5 hour tests and came away very discouraged - he had been given the wrong practice information from his company.
Next - I went to Tanner's T Ball game with Sam trying to show him how much fun his cousin was having - then Tanner (age 4) was catching and got hit in the nose with a bat. To say the least, there was blood everywhere and Tanner was screaming in pain. Bottom line, Tanner's nose was x-rayed at the emergency room and it is not broken. Sam basically says right now when asked if he wants to play T Ball - NO Thanks!