Three's company

So, I have this dear friend who has three sweet little ones. Well, they are not so little now, but they are still sweet. When they were first born, I wanted to take something sweet to get her through each day. You know, give her energy? What should I take? A cake, of course!

bugs, bugs, everywhere there are bugs!

These cupcakes are in the shape of various insects. They were very tedious, but a whole lot of fun all at the same time. The theme for the birthday party was a "bug catching" party. So much fun!!!

Happy Birthday to You....

At Daniel's office each month, all of the birthdays for that month are celebrated in the conference room with one big lunch and cake. Usually someone from the office makes the cake, but on this rare occasion I was asked to make the cake. Yippee!!! This was one of my first cakes to make/decorate. It was just a vanilla cake with buttercream icing. I do everything from scratch unless I'm in a hurry or have lots of cakes to bake in a short amount of time. Then I cheat and use a box, but even then I've been told the cakes taste delicious.

Bless the Hands...

So, I've always been a praying woman, but when I met Daniel I quickly picked up on the sweet saying "Bless the hands that prepared it" during every blessing before any meal. I asked him why he and his family always said that and he said that it was just an appreciation for the one who took the time out to prepare the meal for them. He has carried this over to our family and I thought it was a cool name for my hobby. So, bless the hands...

Playing in the dirt...

Well, it's about time I posted new happenings around the Culpepper house. I've decided to dedicate this blog to things I love to do. Right now, it's cooking and gardening. I'll start outside and move inside with other fun blog updates. Last summer I decided I was tired of looking at a "neked" back yard since I spend most of my time with my caboose parked on the patio with coffee and book in hand. So, I told Daniel I was going to till up a border around the back of our house and patio about two feet wide. He was not impressed because this meant I would be destroying any "good" grass we had begun to establish in our two years of being here. After much sweet talking and cooking many of his favorite meals, I now have a beautiful flowerbed that wraps from my garage all the way around to the corner of my patio, and I did all by myself! Even Noel likes to look at the flowers. Check out the photo of her chillaxin on what she thinks is HER bench.

Halloween Eve

I was so looking forward to a nice relaxing night alone. Daniel is with his firm on a mandatory team building retreat at Old Waverly. Yeah, I know! What a nice weekend to be at Old Waverly when it's pouring rain. He's still not much of a golf dude so I guess he's ok with the rain for now.
As I'm enjoying my relaxing evening of Hulu and getting caught up on most of my weekly shows, my cell phone rings. I look to see who it is only to find that the person has blocked his/her number. I shouldn't have answered it, but I did. The "kids" on the other line told me I was "the lucky caller and that if I answered the next few questions right then I'd win $2!" I hung up immediately! Stuff like that makes me nervous! I know it was probably just kids, but I'm still going to set the alarm and sleep in the closet tonight. I know! I know! I am a scaredy cat.
So much of a scaredy cat that once a teenager rang my doorbell when I was home alone to sell me the Clarion Ledger and I never answered the door and stayed in the closet until Daniel got home. I later found out from a friend who lives in our neighborhood that it was only a teenager. :)

Goin to the Chapel...

Well, yesterday was my sister's wedding. I left on Thursday after work headed for Tuscaloosa to do "the wedding thing". When I got there, I enjoyed a nice run on the treadmill while Madz sat in front of me asking every two seconds "How far now?" I don't think she liked being there. :) We then went back to her apartment to peel the stickers off of 200 bubble bottles. Needless to say, I never want to see another bubble bottle again! Friday we went to get her nails/toes done and we had rehearsal and rehearsal dinner that night. All this time, I am really nervous because my throat was really sore and I was supposed to sing in the wedding. I was trying not let the nerves show. As the wedding day approached, the exhaustion began to set in. All of the wedding festivities went off without a hitch and both bride and groom looked fabulous! I didn't even cry during the wedding. I know! Hard to believe, huh? I did shed a tear or two on the way home, though. Now I can focus more on National Boards and getting it all packed up!

Happy March!

I started off my Sunday looking at the snow on the ground. After a great time of worship with great friends, we partied it up "baby" style at a baby shower for Sarah Beth and Brent. Their little bundle of joy's birthday is fast approaching! I got a few pages typed out yesterday on my boards and now only have two pages left. I can't believe I've made it this far! I tried to finish it up today, but with not much luck due to my relaxed state of mind after spending most of the afternoon laughing at Parker and Noel talking to each other.
I've discovered a new recipe some might enjoy. I'll put it on here, but you have to remember I cook WITHOUT measuring things so...Here you go! Enjoy.

1 lb of ground beef or turkey
1 can of baked beans
1 or 2 cans diced tomatoes
1 or 2 spoons full of brown sugar
"some" barbeque sauce
1 can black beans
1 can "white" beans (I can't remember what they are called.)

Brown the meat and mix all of the other ingredients together with the meat. Let it all simmer all afternoon (or for a few hours) and serve with cornbread.

Procrastination

It's been a while since I have updated here. I decided people might be interested in what has been going on since the last time.I decided at the beginning of the school year to try and get my national board certification. I began my entries with telling about how I have improved my career professionally and how this has impacted my students. Then came the math/science entry in which I chose to dissect cow eyes with my students. Needless to say, they loved it. Especially the second time we did it. Yes, I said second time. We dissected cow eyes twice because my first video of this lesson didn't turn out the way it needed to be. So, I dragged a friend to a slaughter house to pick up more cow eyes. (I ordered the first set of eyes from a biological supply company.). While we were at the slaughter house, a man asked me how I was going to cook the eyes because he thought I was planning on eating them. (ha ha!) After this I taught the writing lesson on taking a tour through the digestive system and then the history lesson on Civil Rights Leaders in MS. I even had a student shed a tear or two during the history lesson and video. This is probably the most fun I've had in my teaching career. Being forced to branch out of my comfort zone and stretch these young minds has been so interesting. Now, the typing it all up about what took place prior, during, and after each lesson has been NO fun at all. It has, in fact, consumed my weekends for the past 8 months. I plan on using this weekend to finish typing up my last entry and hopefully my wonderful husband will proof it. Spring Break will be used to pack and ship this whole thing. Daniel has been a real trooper during the whole process by taking care of many of my responsibilities around the house. Now, I guess I had better get back to work on all of this. Oh yeah, I've also been traveling back and forth to Tuscaloosa for wedding showers thrown for my sister. She and Stephen get married this coming weekend!!!

So, I just realized that I haven't posted an update in quite some time now. Well, let's see...what's been going on since August? The Today Show came to our school because they were doing a show on the prevention of Type 2 diabetes, and we walk with our kids every morning. They taped that and a portion of an educational seminar in my classroom on healthy choices. Some of my kids even got the chance to appear on TV. I was so very proud of them. Been going to showers for Rachel since she is getting married in TWO WEEKS! I know she is so excited. It makes me feel like getting married again (to Daniel, of course). We've just finished our first 9 weeks of school and I can't believe we only have 3 more to go! :) I had the best birthday a woman could ask for. My kids gave me so many gift cards and Daniel gave me such a wonderful gift of a quiet dinner for two at one of my favorite restaurants. I've put out halloween decorations and am awaiting the trick or treaters!

total conviction

total conviction
Friday night after a long day at work and a nice shopping trip with Rachel, I stopped by Subway to pick up a couple of sandwiches for Daniel and me. I was on the phone with Granny and Pop telling them about the Today show coming to our school on Monday and this man followed me into the Subway. He got in line behind me and was just as quiet as could be, waited in line so patiently and then I felt a strong feeling to buy his dinner too. I have never felt so strong about something in my entire life. As I ordered our sandwiches, I continued to feel this tug or maybe it was a slight tap on my shoulder, but it still seemed to say for me to buy this man's food. Keep in mind I have no idea who this man is. He looked as if he hadn't shaved in about two days and his clothes weren't name brand other than the Ugg female boots ( in September). Other than these things, this man didn't at all look homeless, but yet still I get the urge to buy his food. I was paying for our sandwiches and he told the young lady behind the counter what he wanted on his sandwich and I slowly walked out of the store without paying for his. Before I could get out the door, I noticed that he pulled out some $1s from his pocket and paid for his own. I had not paid for his and couldn't (still can't) get that off my mind. I have never felt more ashamed in my life. I felt like I had ignored God, I had ignored the call! I can honestly say that I will NEVER ignore HIM ever again.

life is good!

So, even though my throat is sore, my ears are stopped up and my head is stuffy, I still say life is good. Yesterday, Daniel and I went to the Wal-Mart on Hwy 18 for something our church does every year around this time. Buried Treasures Ministry of our church always hosts a Dress A Child day. Volunteers from our church go and help these children whose parents are incarcerated and can't buy them school clothes and other necessities. Last year Daniel and I shopped with this one family together, but this year's volunteers seemed a little slim so we were separated and shopped with different families. I am so amazed and thankful at the many blessings that our family has had bestowed upon us. Just when you think your life is tough or you're going through something so difficult, God always reminds us to count our blessings whether we think them to be large or small because there are families and other people out there who have it way worse than we do. Sometimes this is because of a rash decision that should have been a little more thought out or this is because they know no better way of life. These families that we shop for are so appreciative of what we did and it was so simple to just give two or three hours of our Saturday to shop for them. I just love showing God's love in this way.
Also, this morning our SS lesson was on being judgemental of people before we know the whole story. I just feel so blessed that God was not judgemental of me even when He knew the whole story. He loved me anyway; despite all of my flaws and I am so thankful for that!
With this being said, I say again... LIFE IS GOOD!

First week down, too many more to count!

So, I have my kids now...all 27 of them. Yes, I did say 27! They are so precious. Of course I can say that right now because the "honeymoon" period is still in effect as my principal would say. We have fully jumped right into things this week with the new math program and all of our other subjects. I told them Friday that we'd begin learning new things next week and for them to come prepared. One of them asked me today, "How about I go home now and call it a day?" This was around lunch time. :) Sweet dumplin'.

Back to School...

All week this week, we've been preparing for the students to enter our rooms with excitement. The day has finally come for them to arrive and learn! Last night was open house with the kids/parents. They bring their supplies and get to see where their classroom is. I must admit that even though I am not ready for my summer to be over quite yet. I am ready for this year. I am very confident that this year is going to be a fabulous one. With me preparing to achieve my National Board Certification as well as teach those young minds all there is to learn, I feel like this year will fly by! So... here goes!

What's your testimony?

I got an email from a lady in our Bible study with this clip in it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvDDc5RB6FQ Take a minute to watch and then take another minute to think about your testimony in this fashion. Pretty cool! I had chilly bumps afterwords!

Member of the Family!

For those of you who do not know, Daniel has become the newest member of the ACB family! We are so excited. Most of all I think he is loving his job/career now because he feels like this is what he went to school for. All the countless prayers have been answered. I never doubted they would, but got a little concerned there towards the end. Now, all I have to say is that God is good!!!

check out the website: www.acblaw.com

Summer is over!

As I sit down with my large java, I wipe a tear away because the sadness of summer being over has set in.
Although I am sad that my days of sleeping in and watching the humming birds fight over who gets the last drop every morning, I must say that my summer has been one of great travel, great friends and great fun! It all started with a "trip for school" with Gail and Stephanie. Of course we ended up staying at the Beau Rivage... just a few miles away from our meetings. We were lazy by the pool and drank chocolate drinks...merely relaxed! Oh yeah, we learned a few things also. You know, the important things like how to teach kids to make homemade ice cream in a Ziploc bag and how to name your child Miata Porche' when he/she is born! As we returned from that trip, Daniel and I left almost immediately for yet another beach trip-this time to Gulf Shores to celebrate our 2nd anniversary! So much fun and learning there also. We learned that there SHOULD be a weight limit for two piece bathing suits or at least a sense of decency like when you can't see the sides to the bottoms you are wearing because of the "rolls"... enough said. We also took note of the fact that being drunk doesn't necessarily mean you LOOK COOL! Especially when you are passed out in the sand. All in all, that trip was successful for what it's purpose was: relaxation with spouse & people watching. Not long after that, Stephanie and I boarded the plane for Houston! We went to Sea World, Schlitterbaun, and the Alamo and had a blast I might add. (all in San Antonio-mind you)
Not only have I traveled this summer, but man did we have so much fun for the 4th!!! My family went down to Wiggins, MS to an ATV offroad park. We hit every mud hole we could go through and even some we couldn't quite make it through. We got stuck, got dirty and then got out and did it again. Madz, Stephen, moma, poppie and Daniel and I had a blast with all the caked on mud. I also managed to shop until my feet couldn't shop once more (or my pocket book for that matter). I have grown to know my best friend on an even deeper level. Probably more than either one of us ever expected, but I believe that is why God put her in my life. I do wish He'd put her a little closer in distance. I have also grown closer to a college buddy. Well, sort of. Rachel and I didn't know each other in college, but she is engaged to one of Daniel's buddies from Millsaps, and through the planning of their wedding we've become a little closer each day.
I have successfully done what a normal teacher does in the summer... sat on my tush, shopped, baked myself by the pool and traveled!

Now, Back to School! Pray that the 5:30 mornings don't kick my hiney too bad. :) Oh and the 5K on the 1st Saturday after school begins! (yes I have lost my mind)

Fun times in ALABAMA!!!

Who would have "thunk" I'd have such fun times in Alabama since I'm such a STATE fan!?! So, I went to visit my sis for two days really just to get my hair did and ended up purchasing a fab and fun new purse, gettin a funky new do and a far out relaxing massage!!! We also went bowling with Rissie and Shane and I got to meet Stephen's fam. Well some of them anyway. Can't believe how much alike Stepho and his bro. look. They are both cuties and both have REAL cute better halves! Although I had such a good time while with my Madz, I sure am glad to be home!
A little sad that Spring Break is almost over!

9 more weeks to go then.....

SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!

Weiner dog tanning bed

I think we have the silliest weiner dog on Earth! When she gets cold, she tries to find the warmest place in our house to rest her long body. Usually it's in our bed or she will snuggle in her own bed by the fireplace. Here lately we have noticed Noel in a most unusual warming place; the bottom of the table in the foyer! She climbs up there and will rest her head on the post of the table, but surprisingly she does not bother any of the decoratives on the table. All she is interested in is the SUN! :)

God is neat!

I tell you what! It really is neat to learn about God on such a level that Daniel and I have started. We recently began a couples Bible study where most of the other couples are older than us. They give such insight on the things we have discussed that Daniel and I really have to force ourselves to go to sleep after we get home. It is so neat to grow and learn in Christ with my partner in life and very best friend! Isn't God good!?! Woo hoo! I feel like shouting right now. Watch this video instead...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e4zgJXPpI4

Good night!