This Time Next Saturday.............

I will be jamming out to:


and some:


I can hardly wait....I got my hair 'did' today and I'm going shopping tomorrow!!!
One of my friends already wants to know who will be the designated driver... Kristin has volunteered to only drink 1! Thanks girl!
Again, it is my mission to ensure that a good time is had by all!

Taking Turns

There is a bulletin board in my building regarding the upcoming Presidential Election. It has pictures of both candidates and few other things (electoral college, popular vote, etc). Every day that Turkey Butt and I walk past it, he asks me some random question about the board. Yesterday, I asked him if he knew who those people up there were. He knew Obama right away and I had to tell him that the other one was McCain. Here's how the rest of the conversation goes:
TB- Momma, why are they arguing so much over everything?
Me- Well, they both want to be President of the United States.
TB- Well how do we know who it will be?
Me- Well people get to vote and the one who has the most votes, wins!
TB- Can't they just take turns?

Great idea, right? Oh to be 6 again!

In other news, I left school early today to go take care of my speeding ticket issued by the courteous Officer Williams. TB didn't want to leave, but when I started to explain that Mommy was driving too fast and she got caught, and now she had to go the court house and pay them some money, he immediately was interested. He's all about calling 9-1-1 and people getting under arrested. We visited allllllllllllllll the way across town about what happened. Who called 9-1-1? Why wasn't I under arrested? Where is the jail? Will we have money for groceries after I pay them? Will they arrest me there? What if Sweet Pea was in the car when the police man told me to stop? Is jail fun? What is a consequence? ONNNNNNNNNNNN and freakin' on. Try explaining to a 6 year old what it means to get a ticket and what a fine is.... DOES NOT COMPUTE!!! After arriving at the court house and opting to pay the fine ($112) and take defensive driving (anyone interested in joining me in the next 90 days???), the nice lady behind the window proceeds to tell me that if I haven't met all the requirements in the next 90 days, I will need to appear before the Judge on such-and-such day at such-and-such time. Got it, I'm not going to let things get to that point. After we leave the building and get into the car, I have to continue a new conversation with Turkey Butt. Are you gonna see the Judge? Will he under arrest you? Are you gonna take care of things today or tomorrow? How is he gonna know? Do you still have some money left? Will they under arrest you at your classroom? LORD, please help me! I have to explain to him :
1) I have never been under arrest
2) People have to be pretty bad to be under arrest
3) I am not planning on going to jail
4) If you drive a little too fast you will not go to jail
5) Paying money for getting in trouble with the police is like not being able to play Wii when you growl at mommy

Technical Difficulties...

I started a post about the first day of school and all that, but I am experiencing some problems. So, I'm not sure if it's me or blogger....but I promise to put it out there as soon as I get past these issues!

Turkey Butt Was a Star &.......

I MISSED IT! Darn it. All last week, we kept hearing on the news to send in your first day of school pictures to the local NBC station. Well, yesterday morning, I was snapping a few pics, and Turkey Butt asked me to send one to the news. I took a quick picture with my phone and sent it in without thinking too much more about it! Well, this morning, I arrived and one of my co-teachers said she heard something about a Kindergartner from McKinney and there was my sweet Kiddo..... she said the anchor people even commented about how his back pack was almost as big as he is....DARN IT!


We are in full back to school mode. Turkey Butt seems to have adjusted pretty well, here are a few pictures from yesterday:

HAD to have the Incredible Hulk back pack...
At the end of the first day (only because I had other issues that morning!)

I am sooo lucky to be able to take him to school where I work! I look forward to catching little glimpses of him during the day and spending time with him after school while we're getting ready for the next day! Today, my class was taking a restroom break in the Kindergarten Hall, right near Turkey Butt's room. I've already scoped out his seat and can see him as we're coming past. While we were waiting today, the door opened and I happened to see Turkey Butt crying. I saw that all the kiddos were at their seats and they were writing. I wondered if he was frustrated or upset about something he might not be able to do. The teacher came to the door and told me they were writing stories about their pets and some friends were crying because they were sad about pets that they had lost. I asked her what pet he was writing about (we haven't lost any pets lately) and it turns out, he was writing about the fish that died 2 years ago... GEEZ! He never even cared for that fish until it died! I fed it, cleaned the tank (only when it was green) and found it gasping at the bottom of the tank one morning. That fish lived for 3 years and survived more than one move, I'd say that he out lived his life expectancy. Anyways, Turkey Butt comes to the door and hugs me and continues to sob about how he misses 'Fishy' (he can't even remember the damn thing's name.... Donkey). It will be interesting to see how this story turns out.....

Something Funny

This Blog is pretty funny.... to get it, you need to go back and read the very first post...the one that started it all...
I need a little humor in my life.

What was I thinking.....

Today started off like pretty much any other day. Daddy Dearest and Turkey Butt are in Amarillo and will be home tomorrow (YEAH!). I woke up, got Sweet Pea and myself ready. Left the house at 7:30 because, as usual, I needed gas in my van... Got gas, headed to the sitter, dropped SP off and was on my merry way. I came over a hill and I was busted....Yep, 52 in a 40. AND, to top it off, I didn't have my insurance.....grrrrrrrrrr. However, Office Williams was very polite, "Just doing my job", he reminded me....I know, I know....so what did I say as he handed me the ticket????

"Thank You"

Why do I always do that? Last time I got a ticket, my sister was with me and the same thing happened. I didn't mean to do it, it just happened subconciously. The whole time he was in his car, I was repeating to myself: "Do not say thank you, do not say thank you"
You can see how well that worked out for me.....

Recent Pictures....

HIIIIIIII YAH!

Can I break your arm??



Origami Wolf

Riding the Ice Cream Truck

My Cute Kiddos!

Smile!

Sweet Pea watchin' the show

Getting ready to head home...

Can't wait 'til our next trip!

Anyways...that's what we've been up to! Sorry that there aren't any water park pics...Wasn't crazy about taking my camera in there and having it get wet. We had a great time at GWL and we're already planning on going back over Thanksgiving or Christmas. The park is awesome, both my kids loved it!

Ugh...

Remember my last post about my lucky teammate who was dealing with fumes from the generator? Well, she spent the day being treated for carbon-monoxide poisoning. Not so funny! Please send positive thoughts her way! She is the sweetest person and I'm really worried about her.

Can I break your arm?

That was the question asked of me by my son yesterday evening. We were getting ready to leave the house for his first Tae kwon do lesson. He was very excited to test his strength and I guess he thought my arm would be easier to break than, oh, say, a board maybe... I don't know.... I'll post pictures of him in his pristine white outfit (I am wondering how long it will stay this way!).
We had a fabulous time at the Great Wolf Lodge, I promise to post all about it and I'll even throw in some pictures of my adorable children...
Now, I need to vent....so, if you don't want to hear someone whine and moan about how rough things are, click the little red X in the top right hand corner right now......
OK, so today was my first day back at work. Honestly, I had stayed away, and now I know why. All of the third grade teachers are going to be in the portables, I can deal with that. There's been some issues with several things, some of them small, many of them not so small. I haven't set foot in my classroom, until today. When I did, the tears started to fall.

• First of all, none of my stuff had been moved in. I went in to see what help I could find, and the WONDERFUL women from Second Grade stepped in and helped move all my things. They rock! I have to think of something sweet to do so that they will know how much I REALLY appreciate them.
• Second, someone named "Miss Jones" had put vinyl lettering all over the room. I have, in 12 inch letters, Miss Jones' Sixth Grade Social Studies Class, on one wall. On another, Tiger Pride. And several other little pearls of wisdom randomly placed throughout the room. THANK YOU MISS JONES! My Principal came out and attempted to remove the lovely lettering, but she did not have very much luck. Someone from the district finally showed up and assured me that they will send someone to scrape the lettering off, she's just not sure when it will happen. OK, thanks! The good news is that Miss Jones (I even know her first name now) left one of her old pay stubs in with the random crap she left in my new room, so I now know where she lives. I'm seriously considering returning the favor......
• Third, we have no electricity... HOWEVER, we do have a generator and a cord. So we all get one giant box fan, woohoo! If you are my lucky teammate, your room is near the tail end of the generator, so you get the gas fumes and get to spend the day light headed and dizzy! The district is waiting on the city to come install a meter. When will that happen, you may wonder? Who knows, not tomorrow, so that means no power through the weekend. But the good news is that there is supposed to be rain this weekend, so now it will be hot AND humid, lucky us, huh? Everyone wants to work in these conditions, right?
• Fourth, no furniture.
• Fifth, no technology.
• Sixth, some of my other teammates are dealing with port-a-potties that have been removed (GROSS!!)I added bullets for my commander friends!

Honestly, I love teaching, really I do, but man this makes life rough.... Most other teachers have their rooms ready and are making copies and getting plans together for the first week. What is third grade doing? We're trying to get ready to start school in rooms that are 87 degrees in the morning and up to 95 in the afternoon.
OK, see how therapeutic that was? Already, I am starting to feel better.
In other news, my sister is FINALLY getting Internet next week. I can't wait for her to be connected so I can be updated regularly on my nephews...woohoo!
Welcome to the real world 'Lissa!

Going on a Staycation

We'll be heading out soon for our Staycation....Turkey Butt got to chose between Branson, Hot Springs, and Grapevine. Well, he chose Grapevine because of the Great Wolf Lodge and the fact that he would not have to spend an extraordinary amount of time in the car! I'll update and post pics when we get back!
Please pray that this place is Crypto free, I have had multiple nightmares about this!

Dear Father of our children,

How long has it been since you have changed a diaper? Especially a nice stinky, dirty one?
Just curious.
Your Semi-Loving Wife.

Up for the challenge....

Some of my favorite bloggers have conquered this, so I'm gonna try...
Here are my top 100
1. My middle name is Deanne
2. I was born as Lori Deanne
3. Adopted as Lori Deanne Ray
4. Married as Lori Deanne
5. I have been married for 11 years
6. I love my husband more than anything
7. We grew up 15 miles apart and didn't meet until we were in our 20's
8. His parents and my grandparents were friends, they partied together
9. My mom and his brother went to high school together
10. I knew his nieces before I knew him
11. Our son is Maddox David
12. His was almost named Aidan, because I love the character on S&TC
13. David is after Kris' dad
14. David is also my biological father's name, but Maddox is not named after him
15. We saw the name Maddox in a people magazine 2 weeks before he was born and decided to use it
16. Didn't really realize it was Angelina Jolie's son's name...
17. Our daughter is Karli Ryanne (pronounced Ryan)
18. I wanted to name her Ryan
19. I didn't want her name to be an issue, so we changed our minds
20. Karli with a 'K', like daddy, Kris with a 'K'
21. the 'anne' part is kind of a family thing...see #1
22. My mom's middle name is Anne
23. My sister's middle name is Leanne
24. I grew up in a tiny town in the Texas panhandle called Kelton
25. I played basketball
26. and volleyball
27. and I was a cheerleader (I know, right???)
28. There were 9 people in my graduating class
29. I was salutatorian, but not in the top 10% of my graduating class
30. I went to college at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas
31. It was called West Texas State when I started, so I don't consider myself an Aggie
32. Growing up, I thought I would go to Texas Tech
33. Changed my mind when I visited...waaaaaay to big for a small town girl
34. I graduated college in four years
35. One of my favorite jobs was working as a camp counselor at Camp Champions in Marble Falls
36. I wish I had kept in touch with some of those people
37. When I was little my great-grandparents lived in Marble Falls
38. When I retire, I'd like to live in Horseshoe Bay
39. This is getting hard........
40. My first teaching job was 5th grade in Plainview, Texas
41. I taught there for 3 years
42. I lived in Nebraska for 2 years
43. I have been to more football games at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska than anywhere else
44. While in Nebraska, I taught 7th grade reading....YIKES
45. We lived in Amarillo for 5 years after living in Nebraska
46. I taught computer there
47. and 4th grade
48. It was great (most of the time) to be so close to family and friends
49. Comfortable would probably be the right word
50. I cried for days when we decided to move
51. We moved to Kansas City (Overland Park)
52. My marriage probably wouldn't have survived if I hadn't moved
53. It actually almost didn't survive
54. I taught 3rd grade in KC
55. We moved to McKinney in July of 2006
56. We moved into an apartment (never again!)
57. I don't think we'll move again anytime soon!
58. I have taught 5th grade for the past 2 years
59. This year I will teach 3rd grade
60. There will be 8 sections of 3rd grade at my school this year
61. All of the 3rd grade teachers will be in the portables....yeah!
62. They are taking their time setting up the portables
63. We MIGHT have electricity next week
64. This makes me want to hyper-ventilate
65. I am not quite sure when I am supposed to get my room ready
66. Thank God, my team leader is awesome and not afraid to ask for things for us
67. Everyone is in bed, but me and it's only 7:52
68. I wish I was in better shape
69. I hate to go to the gym
70. I feel guilty for working and not being able to stay home with our kids
71. I love teaching
72. Guilt sucks
73. Margaritas are my favorite
74. I have never used any type of drug
75. I feel high when I drink tequila (like I would really know!)
76. I miss my sister terribly!
77. I love to shop for my kids
78. I am not very happy with my current hair cut
79. Pedicures are my guilty pleasure
80. I am going to see Maroon 5 next month with friends
81. Wish I could see Coldplay too...
82. I WILL see Nickelback next time they are close
83. My favorite movie is 'Juno'
84. I watch way too much tv
85. I love 'The Hills'
86. I love 'Nip/Tuck', I liked it better when they were in Florida
87. I only watch the auditions on 'American Idol'
88. Could really care less who wins...
89. Although, I think Daughtry shoulda won that year...
90. I have someone clean my house every other week
91. I despise cleaning
92. And laundry
93. I am guilty of blog-stalking
94. I wish I knew what to tell my son when he asks about my father
95. My children are my life
96. I like my dog, but I make her stay outside probably way too much
97. The cat is my favorite
98. I wish I had been able to paint upstairs this summer
99. I am sad that summer is almost over
100. I wish that I could take my kids to Disney world

The Countdown is on.....

Woohoo! One month from today, me and 3 of my super-cool friends will have the pleasure of viewing Adam Levine in person at the Maroon 5 (& Counting Crows) concert!

Can I say, YUMMY! I am very excited about this concert, we've had the tickets since May! A good time WILL BE HAD BY ALL, it will be my mission to make sure of this!

Now, if only I could talk DD into letting me see Coldplay too.....

A New Game

Since we returned from the Circus, Sweet Pea has become quite the daredevil. Her new favorite game is to take the hat (that came with the $10 cotton candy), put it on, and walk around. She laughs and laughs, oh this is sooo fun! Normally, this would not be a problem, but as you can see, it causes some concern for me. I've had to resort to hiding the hat to keep my child from walking into the furniture and injuring herself.

It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt, right???

I am addicted....

I have an addiction. I know it's there and try as I might, I can't control it and I almost always give in to it. Here's how it started:

When I was growing up, I remember my Mamaw (mom's mom) gathering her grandkids: my brother, sister, 2 cousins,and me. She would load us up in her gold Cadillac and we would head to Amarillo for the day. I remember several trips to the Circus, Ice Capades, and even the Nutcracker Ballet. This is where it all began. Even before we had children, Daddy Dearest and I made a trip to the Circus. He was not impressed! After Turkey Butt was born, I finally had a reason to give in to my addiction. It started very early. Turkey Butt and I (DD doesn't always want to join us!)have seen the Wiggles (twice), Sesame Street Live (three times), Nemo on Ice (three times), Monsters Inc. on Ice, the Circus (4 times), and Walking with the Dinosaurs (Very cool). I also have an addiction to concerts....in my married life, I have seen: Aerosmith (3 times), Everclear (3 times), Matchbox 20 (twice), Kenny Chesney (3 times), Dave Matthews, Nickelback, Daughtry, Cher, Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Tim McGraw, Neal McCoy, Martina McBride, Three Doors Down, Puddle of Mudd, Pat Green, Jerry Jeff Walker, Cooder Graw, Stoney LaRue, Cross Canandian Ragweed....I know there are more, just can't think of them right now.

So, Saturday morning rolls around and this is one of the rare weekends where we truly have NOTHING planned. Then it hits me, the Circus is in town! I approach DD with the idea (via googletalk) and he agrees. So, I manage to find some decent tickets for Sunday morning. I tell Daddy Dearest and here's how the rest of the conversation goes:

DD-"I knew you couldn't do it"

Me-"What do you mean?"

DD-"I knew that before it was all over, you would want to go the Circus"

Me-"I can't help it, it's a family memory we're creating"

DD-"I knew you couldn't do it"

Oh well, Sweet Pea had yet to go (last year TB and I went by ourselves), so there, DD! Yesterday morning, we loaded up and were outta here by 8:30 am. We arrived in time to join the All Access Preshow. We went down on the floor and watched the some of the performers give a sneak peak into what was to come. It was pretty fun! Next, we headed to the souvenir stand....TB knows he gets one thing...well now, he thinks Sweet Pea needs something, so we dropped $50 on Circus stuff that will be forgotten by tomorrow's end! Oh well, it's the experience, right??? We had a good time, SP was a little fussy (this production was interrupting nap time). Now, Turkey Butt wants to train his dog to ride a scooter so she can join the Circus. Good luck with that!

Sweet Pea's tired and it hasn't even started yet!

How cute is this clown???

Turkey Butt watching the elephant

Elephant art

Watching the horses

Getting ready to watch the show!

Playing on the floor (Mommy was not happy, germs!!!)

MUST. HAVE. THIS.

I want this purse.....I could get it for free.....The giveaway ends tomorrow...go there and tell her you found it through my site.... don't enter though...k????