Goodbye Townhouse

Yipee! I can officially say we are moving. Two weeks from today we are loading up and making the long awaited move. I don't even want to think about how much packing is going to go down between now and then, but I know that it will be well worth the hard work. I will have to post a pic of the new house soon. So stay tuned. =)

GOT AN OFFER!

Well, we finally got an offer on our house that we are currently in. Too bad it was a stinky offer. They totally came in and tried to LOW BALL us. But, hey...we don't have to move! So we are standing firm near our current price. I know, some would think it is crazy to stay up there but we have already taken it off the market before and lowered the price that what we listed it as. I am just excited that we can now say that "WE GOT ONE!" We shall see what happens....

Surprise! Happy Birthday! 80 & 90 =)

At the age of 80 my grandmother will be having her FIRST "surprise" party ever. I am pretty positive she will not find out about it since I am letting out the news online. This Sunday we have decided to invite the family, her friends from church, and her neighborhood friends. She thinks she is going to a Retirement Party for my mom but little does she know that people will be there to celebrate her. I am so excited for her! So Happy Early Birthday MamMaw D who will be 80 years young. While I am mentioning birthdays, I will go ahead and give an early Birthday shout-out for my other grandmother. In December she will be turning 90. Wow can you believe 90? That is awesome! We are also in the process of planning a party for her as well. Everyone in the family and from her church will be there. We are excited because my Aunt and Uncle that live in Germany are going to come to town for the party and then stay for Christmas this year. We are always thrilled when they get to come "to town" because we don't get to see them very much. Happy Early Birthday to MamMaw R who will be 90 years young. Here is a pic of both of them this past weekend. They weren't too excited about getting on a boat but we finally talked them into a quick ride and then they loved it. They look great!

2 Weeks from Thursday

It is official, we have to do our frame walk through two weeks from Thursday. =( At this time we need to have our house sold or it goes on the market for other James Hill lookers. Charles went out there today to check on things and some of the workers were sprawled out all through the house to take their nap after lunch. I wish I got to take a nap after lunch. It is finally down to CRUNCH time.

House Update

Here is a picture showing the progress of our house. Your first thought is probably "Yay" it is getting close, but we are thinking "slow down". We still haven't sold our house and in a matter of weeks we have to get it sold or it isn't ours anymore. Yes it is sad to think of it that way but it is reality. We don't really have any serious lookers at our house but hopefully the right one will come along and get here fast. My favorite looker so far has been a lady looking for a space to hold her Grand Piano. Hmmm...In a townhouse? Of course our space wasn't big enough. Haha! I guess some people really don't use that noggin' up there. The best part is the fact that we hid out in our car to see who was coming. I felt like we were secret agents. =) Anyways, keep your fingers crossed that we will have a buyer super soon.

Meet Mrs. Marsh

That's the intimidating Mrs. Marsh. Yeah right. Not the best picture for the yearbook but it was a funny picture so I thought I would share it with yall. Of course, I will certainly have lots of fun stories straight from the classroom, not the press. It makes me sad that I can't post pictures of my precious kiddies but take my word for it, they would make your heart melt. Each day that I head off to my job I constantly remind myself that the kids that walk through the doors of our school are totally different from me culturally but we are all the same at heart. We all have the need to be loved. How quick they are to say "I love you!" in hopes to hear the simple phrase said back to them with a smile. How easy it is to forget how enormously blessed I truly am. I can honestly say that I take PRIDE and great JOY in knowing that I am an educator, a friend, a mommy, a sister, a nurse, a comforter, an ear to listen, a pat on the back and so many other roles to these kids. To some of them, something I may "say" or "not say" could make all the difference in the world to the future of that child. Each day I ask that you would pray that God would use me in any way possible to touch the lives of each student I come in contact with. Some days are of course going to be tough to love unconditionally but I know it is what I am called to do. I know that one day, the kids that I have now will be out on their own and I want them to remember someone who stopped "teaching" long enough to truly get to know them.

Fun Things Heard

Since I have had kiddies for five days now, I have heard some really funny stuff. Just wanted to share some with you guys. To get the full effect you might have to ask me to demonstrate using their personalized voices. I have gotten really good at sounding like them. =) The kids are so precious and they make me laugh so much. On to phrases and words I have heard over the past few days. "What.. why you gotta do that? Why you gotta get that big'O eraser out and take words off my page?"...."I wanna go home"..."I don't like you anymore"--followed by a hug and smile..."Mrs. Marsh, we haven't gone to the bathroom yet"---- ......."D-A-N-G" in slow-mo but the not so nice word was used instead of the one I typed---this followed a discussion about the Olympics being in China. I brought out the globe and showed them how far away the country was and I heard the first cuss word of the year. Hopefully the last!...."Mrs. Marsh, we have off days on Saturday and Sunday."....I wanted to say, "believe me I KNOW" but I just smiled and said "Yes, that is correct."...and last for today, "Mrs. Marsh, you are my favorite teacher ever." =)