Mrs. Mack is back!

After crying my eyes out for while about not being rehired at SES, I proceeded to enjoy my summer. I secured a part time job for the fall and knew that I could substitute every day. I prayed about the situation. About a week or two after school was out I got a call from the principal. There was going to be a fourth grade unit added because of the number of students. This teacher would only teach reading...which I love! She told me that I was being considered for the position along with several others. Exciting news but I didn't get my hopes up. I also got a call from B's alma matta...Opp.  They also had a fourth grade position open. I interviewed with them, but their position was temporary. A few days later E and I were on our way to shop in Dothan when I got them call that I got the position at SES. I was so thrilled. We went to the teacher store that day just to buy something, anything that I could use in my room. Later that week I volunteered at Kids Kamp with a civic club I am a member of when I got a call from Andy, another local elementary school. I ended up not interviewing with them because the board meeting to approve my employment was that night. I told the principal that I would hate to waste her time. God is so good. I went from having no hope to having three opportunities for a job within a matter of weeks. I'll leave you with a picture of my room in progress. It is right next door to the room I had last year. I am so excited to be back at SES with my wonderful students and coworkers. I hope Miss E will be going with me when the time comes for her to go to kindergarten.

Summer fun!

Summer is flying by! I've been spending most of my time with a very busy TWO year old. I'll have to do a complete birthday post soon. We've been swimming alot, had playdates with friends, gone to story time at the library, and playing with her newest obsession Baby Doll. I am so blessed to have gotten another job at the school I love so E has started going back to her school a little more while I get me room ready....yeah need more posts for these things too. Right now E is taking swimming lessons with two of her future classmates. They are learning things like floating on their backs, holding their breaths, and "picking apples" (paddling). Wednesday after swimming I asked her what she wanted for lunch and she told me pizzzza. We went to Pizza Hut for the lunch buffet. It was our first time going to eat just the two of us. We had so much fun. We'll definitely do it again soon. I'm ready to get my classroom complete so I can spend more quality time with my big girl before the crazy fall begins.

The death of me!

Yes, these little babies right here are going to be the death of me! E's Gimme ordered them for her back in the fall and they finally fit. I let her wear them on Memorial Day and she pretty much hasn't taken them off since...well except for yesterday morning when she took off her black Crocs and threw them across the floor and marched to her room to get her black polka dot mary janes. I did not fight this battle! I just let her wear them...at least she picked something that matched.

Last night she slept in these Teva sandals and right now she is prancing around the house in them. I think she's beginning a new stage where she wants to pick out her own clothes. She sticks firm to her choices too. If she would only learn how to put these shoes on instead of following me around holding the right one (it won't stay on) in her hand screaming "Shoe off!!!!".

School's out...seriously!

So, I knew when I accepted my position in December that it was an emergency hire and I would have to reinterview for a position in the spring. Our school earned almost two additional teacher units on top of the positions that another emergency hire and I were working in. I love the school I worked at. It is where I would love to see Everly learn and grow. As spring got closer the more nervous I got and the more excited the students became. I interviewed in early May. By this time we were informed that there would only be one position total at our school, mainly because of proration. My emergency hire co-worker and I (who I also graduated with) knew that one of us would definitely not have a job in the fall at our school. Both of our interviews went wonderful, so we thought if we didn't get a job at our school maybe we get one at another one of the county schools. Either way, we were going to be happy for one another.

We had to wait almost two weeks after our interviews to find out the verdict. My poor students...that was the most stressful two weeks all year! We were called into the conference room at the same time. I already knew what this meant...neither of us got the job! I do not know the person that got the job, but I've seen her around. She looks nice and hopefully she will do a wonderful job. It just stinks when you've poured your heart into something and it's gone. I described it as being broken up with...it's the only thing I could compare it too. I cried all night and woke up at 2 am and cried some more. I cried the next day and woke up at 2 am the following morning. Heck, I'm crying right now!

My fellow co-workers and the parents couldn't have been more supportive. I am so thankful to each and every one of them. They made me feel loved and reminded me that this is all in God's hands and he has a plan, even if I can't see it yet.

SES will definitely always hold a special place in my heart. I went to observe there a little over two years ago when I was very pregnant with E. I remember walking in the halls and the smell hit me. It was the same spell as my elementary school. Then and there I knew this is where I wanted to intern. Low and behold I ended up interning with the very teacher that I observed with, who is now a wonderful friend. I was ecstatic when I was offered a job even before I graduated, this is unheard of. The children are wonderful and the faculty like family.

Teaching is my calling, that I know. It's what I have wanted to be since I was 9 years old. So many great people and opportunities have led me to this occupation...finally. I got a job at the Elmore BOE when I was 17 and worked there six years while I was trying to go to school part time. Finally, 12 years after I graduated high school I finished college. 

One of my parents came to talk to me after school one day. She said that she had prayed daily that I would get the job. She quoted a very fitting scripture. I know it was from Jeremiah and I remember the gist of it...but of course I was crying again!! 
I think this is it-
Jeremiah 17:7-8
  "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. 8 He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."

If this wasn't it...it's what I needed to read today. As of now my plan is to substitute a lot and keep my faith in the Lord...and pray!!

Camping Days 2 & 3

On day two of camping I had to go buy a swimsuit...yeah...couldn't find my one that fits(long gone are the days that I had a draw full to choose from) and we needed to go to my favorite store Target to buy a few items that first time campers didn't know to pack. While we were out we also went to eat at Shuckums. I had a delicious baked oyster trio and B had an oyster po boy. E will pretty much try anything that we do. She ate crackers and cocktail sauce. Healthy...I know! We got back and headed to the beach. At the state park they have two swimming areas. We chose to swim at the pass. It was so clear and beautiful and we felt really safe having E there. The water was really shallow for a long way out. I was really worried about how she was going to like the beach. Last year she had a breakdown in the sand when we went to Orange Beach. No problems at all this year. She loved it! I'm talking about making sand castles and everything. We were only out tree about an hour. It looked like she was getting sunburned but thankfully she didn't.  We headed back to our campsite. E took a nap and B went fishing. I sat out under our awning and did yesterday's blog post. The weather was absolutely perfect. When B got back he started a campfire and I took E across the street to the playground. She was fearless! She went on all the big slides, ladders, and tunnels...until she tripped on a step and bit her tongue pretty good. It took a while to stop bleeding.
We had camping favorites hot dogs and fire roasted corn for dinner.
After dinner E and I took a walk to the shower house. She got her second ever shower. The first was also here earlier in the day. When we got back B made one of my all time favorite foods s'mores!
Last night E and I really didn't sleep so well. She slept between B and I since fell off of her bed the night before. We feared she would so we had lots of pillows on the floor. I was freezing and B thought E was too, so we slept really close to her. I felt her and she was burning up. She and I got up to sat on the sofa. I was afraid she had a really high fever and I didn't have anything to treat it. After I held her for a few minutes she cooled off. So we got on the single bed with her Disney princess comforter. My gosh...I was still freezing. This popup has the most powder AC I've ever felt. B says he offered to turn it down but I refused...I really don't remember. Evie seemed to wake up every thirty minutes. Neither of us rested well last night. We woke up to a completely cooked breakfast. Yummy! B took E back to the playground while I went to shower. He said she was still hesitant. We packed up and headed home a little later.
Before we go camping I would really love to get a granny bike with a wicker basket and baby seat. Everyone rides bikes A LOT while camping. I think E would love it too. Also I would love to start C25K. A very fit family had their popup in the spot next to ours. The father and daughter would get up every morning and go for a long, long run. This girl was so fit. Brett noticed that I would just watch her. He reminded me that I could do it too...I used to do it all the time.

I know this is very, very long...but I wanted to make sure to include lots of details of our camping adventure...including this stynx lizard that appeared when we pulled and funny enough when we left.

Camping Day 1

Yesterday right after church we set out for PCB. It only takes about an hour and a half to get here. We decided to get everything set up before we headed out to the grocery store. The pop up is really is easy to setup and we got everything unpacked. We decided to just pick up some steamed from my favorite Buddy's seafood, but we were 10 minutes too late. They were closed. So we went on to my very favorite grocery store...well besides Fresh Market...Publix. We had their seafood department steam crab legs and shrimp. We got some crab dip and key lime pie (one of my very favorite desserts). We sat out under our asking complete with rope lights and devoured our meal. I think we were all in bed by 9:00. I don't think a baby could be more happy than Evie was last night. She filled her little Vera Bradley purse full of rocks and went to town. I can't wait to watch her around the campfire tonight. Today has been amazing also. I'll post about it soon. I hope this looks good. I am typing on the new Blogger app on my phone. E is awake and B is back from fishing.

Vacation Home

This coming week is my spring break and we have bought a vacation home! Ha! Probably not exactly the kind you imagined when you read this blog title. We bought this pop-up from Brett's friend at work.

We had a Mexican beach vacation all planned out when Brett came home with this idea instead. For the same price we were going to spend on one vacation we could have many, many vacations. So we went last weekend and made the purchase. It sleeps seven if you can believe that. It has a queen bed on one end, a full on the other, the u-shaped table lets down to make a full bed and the booth table lets down to make a single bed (Evie's bed). My only requirement was that is has AC...which it does and a heater with a thermostat. It has an awning that lets out in the front and you can cook inside or bring the gas stove outside and it hooks on the side of the camper. Who knew that pop-ups could be this nice? I am so excited about it!! My parents had a pop-up and we always loved camping.

Our first family trip will start tomorrow and I CAN NOT wait! We're going to St. Andrews in Panama City Beach. Perfect timing too, because our Realtor is showing our house to a young couple after church (please pray it sells soon!!!). We're spending our day today cleaning and packing. I think we're even going to spend the night at B's parents tonight to start the vacay a little early. I might even give a little update from the wilderness...ha ha. I got the Blogger app for my phone now. Maybe I can keep up with this thing a little better now!