Lake Party 2012

Every year Tucker throws a lake party to celebrate his and John's birthday. It started out several years ago as "Tucker and John's" lake party, but as we have gotten older the lake crowd has gotten smaller. Gone are the days when Tucker would order t-shirts and koozies. Gone are the days of staying up all night long.Gone are the days of being a bachelor hanging out with bachelor friends!Ha!

For the first time in many years, this was just "Tucker's" lake party. The six of us (the A team) had a great time! We got the boat out for the first time this summer, and Bonnie Brown cranked right up! We grilled a delicious lunch, took a brand new Camero for a spin, and spruced up our Baggo skills. It couldn't have been a more perfect day on Lake Martin!

 My favorite view!

 Bonnie Brown

 What a Motley Crew! (Jay, Jim, Tucker, Josh, and Kelsey)

 Tucker and I

 Josh and Kelsey

 Best Friends, Tucker and Josh!

 Jay and Josh waiting to jump off of Chimney Rock! Too scary for me!

 Fun on the lake! (Josh, Kelsey, Tucker, Jim, and Jay in the front)

 Our home away from home!

 We got to give these wheels a spin! So much fun!

I had to add this one! I'm in LOVE with these two!

Only four more days of school! Three with students! I'm counting down the days to summer! Ha! Have a great week!

Amanda

Tucker's Birthday Celebration

Tucker turned another year older last Friday! Sorry for the delay in posts. May is a very busy time. Between benchmark tests, orange folders, talent show, Decade's Day, and Field day there's not much time to breathe, let alone blog!

For Tucker's birthday, we went out to eat, and stayed up till 9:30! You thought I was about to say we stayed up late, but not these two old farts! We were pooped and needed the rest. Don't judge us! Saturday morning we headed to the lake to celebrate Tucker's birthday and Mother's Day. It was wonderful and relaxing. Just what we needed!

 Tucker got a Footjoy Dryjoy golf jacket for his birthday. He also got a travel golf bag, so he can take his clubs on our trip to Pebble Beach. I can't wait!

 He's a stud!

We got Phyllis a hat for Mother's Day. It was monogrammed, and of course Emily and I had to have one too!

This weekend we will be celebrating Tucker's birthday again at the lake! We tried to get the boat out last weekend, but the weather did not cooperate. It's supposed to be nice this weekend! A little fun in the sun is just what I'll need to get me through the last busy week of school!

Tucker and I are so ready for summer! Emily gave me her old golf clubs, so it looks like I'll be learning a new hobby this summer. I'm excited to get to spend more time with Tucker, and luckily he has agreed to teach me. I have promised to persevere even when I get hot, hungry, tired, or when it just seems too hard! Ha! We are also playing summer kickball! I want to win first place this year! And some how Tucker talked me into playing in a cornhole tournament every Thursday night starting next Thursday. I better start practicing! Tomorrow is Field Day :/ Pray I make it!

Amanda



Khat's AU Graduation

We have another Auburn graduate, folks! Congratulations to my beautiful and equally intelligent cousin, Khatherynne Dianne Little! She is graduating with a degree in secondary math education. Don't ask me where she gets that from. It's definitely not from me! Math has never been my strong suit!

We celebrated her wonderful achievement with lots of family!It was so nice to have every one under one roof. Unfortunately, our new house is in the process of being built so we may have been a little cramped in our little home. Thank goodness for the dining room table! This party would never have been possible with a pool table!

 The dining room table decorated for Khat.

 Her flowers and favorite gift, money! Ha!

 Did I go a little overboard? Nah!

 She's an Alabama fan, so she hated this cake, but it was delish!

 I wish the pics weren't so blurry! So many people taking pics at the same time messed with the flash :/ Hopefully someone took some good ones I can post later.

Ashley, Grandpa, Khat, and I with sweet little Chloe in front.

 Daphne, Khat, Ashley, Chloe and I

 Three of Grandma's girls! Khat surprised us by putting G-Ma on her cap before graduation. It was such a touching way to remember her. She would be so very proud!

Love this girl!

Congratulations Khatherynne! Tucker and I are so very proud of you! This is such a major accomplishment, and we know how hard you worked to get here! Love you!

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for good and not for evil, to give you a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Amanda

Motivation

May is an exciting, but exhausting month. So many end of the year activities jam packed into three weeks- it's enough to make me want to scream...if I had the energy! Surprisingly, I was ahead of schedule last week. We were going on a mini vacation to the beach. I had my lesson plans and newsletter completed early because I knew we had two field trips, one on Thursday and one on Friday. Yes, I said two, and yes, they were in one week! I wouldn't have survived both field trips anyway, so I took Friday and Monday off.

What was supposed to be a relaxing weekend at the beach turned out to be not so relaxing. The Thursday before I left, I put in my transfer request to move back to third grade. I was nervous and anxiously waited for a response all weekend. I knew we still had one more opening at my school, but that didn't guarantee that I would get it! I have enjoyed teaching fifth grade, and I learned so much from this experience. I also loved my team! They were so welcoming and helpful the whole year through. The fact of the matter was that I just wasn't happy. Third grade is my passion, and I missed not being able to teach all the fun, cutesy poo stuff. I know now that I definitely don't want to teach anything higher than third grade, but I never would have never known had I never tried. As my grandpa says, "If you always do what you have always done, then you will always have what you have always had." Wise words to live by, Grandpa!

We left the beach early on Sunday. We had too much to do to stay another night! We needed Monday to run errands and prepare for the week. Monday afternoon I finally received my answer. I will officially be a third grade teacher next year! I am over the moon thrilled!

This week I have been swamped and exhausted. The kids have checked out. They are over it and so am I. It's just funny how I couldn't think of another thing I had to last week, and now this week, there are about a thousand things I wish I would have done last week! I actually worked an 11 hour day this week (6:30-5:30)! Whew! The science fair kicked my booty, but it was a success! My students are amazing! I am constantly astounded by their creativity and knowledge! Some even said this was the best science fair yet! This was my first and last science fair, thankfully! Glad I went out with a bang! And tomorrow we have spring festival. I may find a shady spot under a tree and take a nap ;)

Amanda

A-Day 2012

War Eagle! This weekend, Phyllis, Mymama, and I went to the Heisman ceremony on campus. The men were playing golf. I was in the driver's seat, which was very scary :/ When your husband is a UPS man, you don't do much driving. My driving includes to and from school and the grocery store. That's about it! Unfortunately, Auburn University does not make it easy to navigate on campus. It took about 5 turn arounds, and Phyllis shaking her finger at an Auburn University employee, but we finally found our parking spot. Who knew getting to the Arena could be such a daunting task?

Our plan was to watch the ceremony in the Arena, but we decided to actually see the ceremony in person. It worked out great because we got to see some family, but not so great at the same time! We could not see or hear a thing! They had all three statues covered with black fabric and lucky for us, it just happened to be Cam's statue that we were standing closest to. We got to see him close up, and I snapped the best pic ever!

 Superman pose!

 Bo knows!

 Pat Sullivan

 Tucker and I at the A-Day game!

 Tucker and Mymama (ignore grumpy man in background)

 Josh came to watch the game with us!

 Us with Mymama after the game!

 War Eagle!

After the game, we took Phyllis and Al to see the lot we are building the house on. I was surprised to see that they have already started clearing land! Then we headed to our house for dinner! I was so excited to eat our first "for real" family dinner on our dinning room table!

 Yummy!

I'm not sure why this one ended up here! Cam's statue!

Spring break is off to a wonderful start my friends! Have a happy week!

Amanda

It's Official!

Tucker and I are building a house! We are so excited about beginning this new chapter in our lives. God has blessed us beyond measure, and we are so thankful. We close August 22nd! Please pray for us during this exciting, but also stressful time.

 Our lot! They haven't even paved the road yet!

The result when it's finished!

We are over the moon thrilled! Tomorrow we head to the A-Day game, and the Arena to see the Heisman statues be dedicated. And I forgot to mention... it's FINALLY spring break! Yea!

Happy Friday!

Amanda

A Day at the Park and Easter 2012

Last weekend, Tucker and I took Bandit to the park at Conway Acres. He loved running with wild abandon. This momma rarely lets Little Boo off the leash, so this was a treat for him!

 I'm so excited, Momma!

 Ahhhhhhh! Fresh air!

 Playing with our friend, Hobbs.

 A bath after our little run through the mud!

Now on to Easter 2012! The Easter bunny stopped by my house to deliver treats to my kiddos at school ;) Tucker and I had to help her out by organizing the treats and putting them into individual bags. 

 The Easter bunny is very generous!

 I love my husband! Only a real man would help the Easter bunny stuff bags with fake grass!

 Packaged and ready for delivery!

After church, Tucker and I went to our favorite place on Earth... the lake!!! We met Andy and Emily there. Mymama cooked up a wonderful lunch! We had fried chicken, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, and potato casserole. Emily made strawberry shortcake for dessert. As for me, I brought my self! Ha! 

 Love this view!

Love these two!

I hope you all remembered the true reason we celebrate Easter. It isn't about the basket of treats or the Easter bunny, but what Jesus did for all of us! I believe! John 3:16

Amanda