Ten on Tuesday

1.  As of last Friday at 3:35pm, school's officially out for summer!!

By the way, can you remember what show that picture is from?  Keep thinking, and I'll give you the answer soon...

2.  Last week, I finished my last gifted class and am excited to say that I'm officially gifted endorsed!! And in even better news, I will be teaching on an honors team next year and love my teammates.  

3.  Speaking of work, Gaines has been helping his dad on the farm a lot lately.  He goes out after his regular job and works until 8 or 9pm.  He's basically been doing it the past three weeks straight and has not complained one single time.  If that's not passion, I don't know what is! ;)  One day last week I accidentally locked myself out of the house and used it as an excuse to go visit him on the farm.  

He and his dad even trusted me to drive the tractor for a while...

Just kidding. ;) 

4.  A few weeks ago, the Boss Hog competition came to Waynesboro.  Barbecuers from all over the county, state, and even country came to show off their skills.  This year Amy, Mrs. Julie, and I judged the strawberry part of the competition and even had to be sworn in as judges.  It was a lot of fun and most of the dishes were really creative and delicious!

 

5.  Last week we got together with our "usual crew" for dinner at Good Day Cafe.  There's just really isn't any like Good Day food and good friends to share it with.  :)

Side note: Does the guy in the bottom right corner not look like he could be Phil Robertson's twin??

6.  This past weekend Gaines' cousin Steed married his high school sweetheart at her family's church in Atlanta.  It was a really cute ceremony and a fun reception afterwards.  Welcome to the family, Charlsi! 

7.  After a fun weekend in Atlanta with family, our Memorial Day afternoon looked a lot like this: 

8.  Has anyone else been watching The Voice this season?  We pretty much watch it religiously and our #1 favorite is Danielle Bradbery.  How cute is she?!

9.  For Molly's birthday we got her a stuffed monkey, which we jokingly call "Lovey Monkey" and claim it's her BFF.  It's her favorite toy and she loves posing playing with it.  

Well, poor Lovey Monkey recently suffered a fateful death, just like the rest of her toys. RIP, friend.

10.  And last but not least, I just heard about and started reading a book called "Divergent" by Veronica Roth.  It's a lot like "The Hunger Games" in the sense that it's a trilogy and is set in a future world of distopia.  It's actually gained so much popularity that they're already in the process of making the movie, which has a pretty good cast.  I'm almost finished reading it, and would definitely recommend it so far!

Happy Tuesday!! 

P.S. The picture from #1 was from the show "Recess" on the Disney Channel.  Remember that one?

Five on Friday

Happy Friday and Happy 10-more-school-days-until-summer to me!! ;) 

1.  Two weeks ago I helped Gaines set up a booth at the Earth Day festival in town.  They blocked off the main street and had lots of Earth Day-related crafts for the kids.  We did a little demo where we poured water on dirt to show soil erosion and then poured water on planted grass to show soil conservation.  Then they got to eat "dirt we freshly dug up in our backyard."  I'm pretty sure some of them actually believed us until they tried it and realized it was just Oreos, cake, and gummy worms.  Yum.

2. So, you know the small town you live in has hit it big when it appears in a Jeopardy question.  :)  Do you know what the answer is?  I'll give you a hint.... It's a state that rhymes with "Feorgia."  

3.  Last Sunday we celebrated Cinco de Mayo with friends at Mexican.  Cheese dip, quesadillas, and Bahama Mamas? Check, check, and check.   

 4.  It was Teacher Appreciation Week this week, which meant getting some sweet gifts from my kids.  This one was my favorite, and I'm not really ashamed to say that all of those M&Ms have since been eaten.   

5.  And last but not least, if you're wondering what happens to our drinks when we walk out of the room for a second, here is your answer.... 

Have a great weekend!! 

Stoop, There It Is

Ha, like that? ;)  A few days ago, our little stoop looked like this:

It was fine, but the light fixture and the door mat were both "leftovers" from the previous homeowners, so we figured it was time for an update.  

So, I hired my favorite handy man, who effortlessly uninstalled the ugly old light fixture and installed the new one, which my parents found and bought for us at Lowe's. :)  We added a new $10 doormat from Walmart and our little upgrade was complete. 

I like how the new fixture is more modern (we installed the same one on our back porch, too) and how the new mat actually spells out "Welcome."

Oh, and our cute door knocker was a Christmas gift from my Annie. 

Here's the side-by-side comparison:

Happy Thursday!