Chip created a video of Thomas’s Christmas pictures. Enjoy the preview of pictures. I am sure a HUGE blog post to update and Christmas pictures will follow.
Shutterfly …the key to easy card design
Shutterfly makes card design easy. I use Shutterfly often in the creation of cards for all occasions from Birthdays, Holidays, Birth Announcements and just about anything else you can think of Shutterfly has you taken care of. Not only do they have quality designs in popular styles, but they have tons of choices and options when it comes to choosing the perfect card design.
This year I as I have done many other years I choose to use Shutterfly to design our Family Christmas Card. The will be my son’s first Christmas so I wanted this card to be special and showcase several great images of him and one of our family. I found the perfect card in Shutterfly’s holiday collection.
Our Family’s Card is included below.
Some of the Items I often use Shutterfly or as follows:
My first week (well, almost week) back at work. No kids, just colleagues, lots of professional development, and the mad rush to finish lesson plans and make copies. In a way, I missed being at work, but not really!
It will be a big difference when the kids come on Monday. I’m tired already, I can’t imagine how tired I’ll be when the kids are back.
I am looking forward to starting the school year. This is my tenure year. I am just praying that God will give me the strength to be positive and be the best teacher I can be. I do think PCHS is the place I am supposed to work. I know that God will reveal to me if I am or am not supposed to stay at PCHS.
On another note, I have challenged myself to being positive for 21 days. This is something that God has put on my heart. I’ve realized that I have been negative too much lately. I pray that God gives me the strength to say positive things, when I am thinking negative things, and to control my tongue. I may have to change my social circles to keep away from negativity, but I think after 21 days (21 days typically make a habit, right?) I will be able to at least TRY to be positive in most situations.
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680 miles (800, if you add the round-trip to Dothan on Saturday, too), three car dealerships, and a BUNCH of paper work later I now am the proud owner of a 2010 Ford Tauras! Woo-hoo! It is such a BEAUTIFUL car–and the 28 miles per gallon I am getting on average for the 340 mile trip from Hayesville, North Carolina to Troy, Alabama is pretty sweet, too! (Sweet like Napoleon Dynamite says!) And for another Napoleon Dynamite phrase, “it’s a sweet ride,” and I’m not talking about a stupid bicycle.
Thomas was SUCH a good baby the whole trip. We left on Tuesday morning, stopped in Wilsonville to see Grammy, then off to Calhoun, GA to see Grandma and Grandpa. Everyone was so excited to get to see Thomas–it was just sad it was for such a short period of time. He slept until 5 AM Tuesday morning and 5 AM (Georgia time, he adjusted to the time change rather quickly!) Wednesday morning. I am hoping Thomas will make this a habit and stick with it.
He is in such a better mood since he has been really sleeping well at night. He doesn’t cry as much when he gets sleepy and it’s time for a nap–he will usually lay in his crib and fall asleep. I will say, I read BabyWise and the PDF (parent-directed feeding) plan does work very well, even when started rather late in the game. Thomas is growing so much! He is probably around 14 pounds now. He was 12 pounds 14 ounces at his 2 month check up towards the beginning of the month. He was rather upset to have to get the three shots, but who wouldn’t be if you had to get that many shots at one time?
I am glad to be wrapping up my June class. At least now I get to “graduate” to reading Young Adult books rather than Children’s books, but I have to admit it was very fun to “read” picture books (the ones with no words!) and have fun reading aloud. July will be a butt-kicker: two three hour courses and travel to Gadsden every weekend. I can’t believe I am saying this, but I want to get July over with…
I will conclude by sharing a book that I am reading. I found the book from Amazon on the Free Kindle lists: Nine Ways to Hear Good. I am really liking the way to the book is written and it is obviously very insightful. I will say that much of what the book talks about rings true, at least for me. I will say that I have heard God speak into my life several times–and I will admit that once or twice I did not obey or listen to what God was telling me. My advice: LISTEN! He knows that He is talking about.
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Lately, I feel like I am lost in the woods calling out for God but I am unable to hear or see Him. I have become so over burdened by worldly problems, worries, and crap that my soul feels so heavy that I cannot bear it by myself any longer. I am so hungry and thirsty for God’s word that it has finally overwhelmed me today.
I feel like I worry so much about menial things that I have no control over or I lack the ability to change it. (I have never read the book Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff, okay!) I know that God is always speaking but I have the inability to listen because I don’t take the time to listen and I am not prepared to receive his words. When I get to this point, God pulls me back to Him sometimes with a word from an unexpected person or a moment where I am just completely broken. At this point in my life God pulled out all the stops, I received a word from a very unexpected person and my soul was completely broken. After waking up from a MUCH needed nap, God starting speaking to me. I don’t know how to explain it to someone who has never experienced this, but God just gave me a word from out of no where. Sometimes it’s given when I open the Bible without purpose other than to read His word, and God speaks through the random passage that I read. This time, I was given a word: Worry. Worry has always been my biggest issue. I worry about things that are completely out of my control. I get caught up in the details that can’t be changed. God has spoken and told me to stop worrying. I read Matthew 6:25-26 which is his message of not worrying. I forget that God provides as long as I have faith in Him and His provisions.
New mantra (thanks to God and His messenger): “If you can’t control it, don’t worry about it.” While it is a simple concept, I know that it will be hard to practice. I pray that God gives me the strength and perseverance to apply this mantra to all aspects of my life.
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