Charleston Girls Trip

Hello friends! I hate how difficult it's been for me to keep the blog updated. The craziness that is my work life right now has really drained me of any extra energy. Most days I come home, play mommy until Violet is asleep, and then plug on with school work or pass out. Not only is time scarce, I feel like my creativity is, too. And frankly, sometimes it's easier just to zone out in front of the television than think of witty sentences (or grammatically correct sentences, for that matter). But I miss it. In my former life I got to call myself a writer, and it's a title I miss dearly.

Anyway, this weekend a bunch of first grade teacher took off for Charleston to celebrate the marriage of a dear friend (and former co-worker). A girls trip was just what I needed and we had a blast. The strolled the streets of Charleston and encouraged each other to buy little pretties (cute necklace for me). We dined fabulously (the kind of dinner that lasts for three hours) and laughed uproariously. My hotel bed was ridiculously comfortable.

A beautiful cemetery we stumbled across. It was full of butterflies. Not a bad final resting place.

The wedding was beyond beautiful. Picture the waterway at sunset, lanterns hanging from the ancient oak tree covered in Spanish moss, candles flickering in the breeze, plenty of good friends to dance and dine and laugh with. A grand time was had by all. It was such a break from my norm and such a needed escape.

And it was such a delight to see my little girl again after being gone three long days. She came running into the yard in her polka-dotted pajamas as my car rolled in, her whole face lit up in an excited grin. Ah, I missed her. Sometimes it's nice to miss her, just to feel the giddy joy at seeing her again. My sweet girl.

Someone's been sleeping in my bed...

Cupcake Onesies

Our circle of friends has added another baby to the brood - our friends Travis and Wendi just had a sweet little boy. I couldn't wait to meet him, and I never want to show up empty-handed, so I was poking around pintrest, looking for a unique baby gift. I bumped into this cupcake-inspired idea and decided to try my hand at it. Ya'll know me, I'm not what I would describe as naturally crafty. But this one looked easy enough for even me to attempt. The only supplies needed were the baby clothes and a cupcake box. Oh, and some tape. Check out the results below!

Presentation is key.

Cupcake box from Michaels, ribbon from my stash.

Four little onesies and two pairs of socks, all from my favorite Target.

Everything rolled up to look like yummy cupcakes, topped with little sock "cherries" in the middle.

For your baby, from my not-such-a-baby-anymore.

A Day in First Grade

The alarm goes off at 5:50. I never hit snooze. I'm usually awake before it begins its shrill greeting anyway, my thoughts leaping out of my bed before my body.

I proceed methodically through my morning routine. Shower, dress, make-up, hair dryer. Once in the kitchen, I make coffee, try to force a few bites of breakfast into my protesting stomach. No one can be hungry at this hour. I sneak out of the house at ten minute to seven. Matt will be getting Violet ready and to school.

I sign in at 7 a.m. The hallway lights are still dim, not yet turned to full strength. I boot up the computer, check the day's plans, manage to get halfway through my coffee before I put it down and know it will go cold before I catch sight of it again. Respond to parent emails, attempting to sound sympathetic, concerned, confident, all in the four sentences I have time for.

The bell rings at 7:50 and the children begin streaming in. I'm on my feet, moving around the room, explaining tasks, reminding those who have already become distracted by friends, classroom pets, their own young six-year-old minds. I won't sit down again until lunch.

We begin the day's dance. I'm on stage, giving my one-woman show. I teach, remind, explain, remind again, trying to pull them along down the path I have planned. I get frustrated when their thoughts wander like ants confused by an impending storm, circling aimlessly. We run out of time, I push on to the next subject, herding them forward like a giant mother hen, trying to keep them all under wing. Sometimes we get it right, yes yes yes. Sometimes I want to crawl under my desk.

Lunch is 30 minutes. Technically. By the time I shepherd the students through the bathroom, the lunch line, get them seated, open stubborn packages and yogurt cups, I have just enough time to speed-walk to the teacher's lounge, tap my foot impatiently through the three minutes it takes to heat up my leftovers, force the food down a reluctant throat, and if I'm lucky, take a bathroom break before it's time to gather the brood up again. My lunch break is closer to 20 minutes. Sometimes I remember my other life, when lunch could last an hour, or be used to run errands, or at least tasted. But really, there's not much time to dwell.

We're back in the room, it's time to start the show again. A parent comes in to help. I hope the kids behave, show their glimmers of understanding. Aren't they are reflection of me, of what I've managed to teach them? We start reading groups. I simultaneously listen to students read, take notes, diagnose reading difficulties and impart strategies. With one eye I'm monitoring the room, watching for who is following directions and who has started staring dreamily into space. Who is goofing off with a friend. The CD player isn't working. One little guy can't read the poem at the poetry center. A request for the bathroom interrupts again. The children at my table read on. I need six more of me to manage this room.

Time is up and we rush to get out of the room. Then a frantic 45-minute planning period. Call a parent, respond to the emails, make copies, sign papers. The day is almost done and I can't decide if we've managed to accomplish anything or not. One final push, one last 30-minute block of time to instruct. Then they're out the door. And I'm plugging away until 6 p.m. How is there so much to do? A corner of my mind wonders fleetingly how my own daughter's school day was, but the thought is soon lost and grows cold, like this morning's abandoned coffee.

And the weekend comes, and my body relaxes, but my mind forces me awake before the sun again. Already I'm fretting about what didn't get accomplished, about the lack of time left to us. How to do it better. Trying to figure out what's not working. Who needs help. How to get them there. Where is the key that will unlock their tiny heads so I can pour knowledge into their brains? I search for that tiny gold key even as I know that teaching doesn't work that way. We're not filling up empty vessels. We're showing those vessels how to fill themselves. But still, that gold key would be nice. I'm still looking for it at 5:50 Monday morning when the alarm fills the silent bedroom with its insistent call.

Party Girl

Future Olympic gold medalist in trampolining.

We've been to two birthday parties in the last two weeks. Fun times! Violet only tried to blow the candles out once, and promptly burst into tears upon learning that this particular joy is reserved for the birthday child. Such is life.

Both parties were out-of-house, one at a local Gymboree (never been before... so that's how stay-at-home-moms retain their sanity!) and one at a indoor-playground-jumpy-extravaganza. I'm really starting to see the logic of hiring out your birthday party. Everyone shows up, has fun, you get to leave the mess behind. The problem with hosting your own party is that you spend half your time cleaning before anyone shows up, and two hours later you have to clean all over again! If there's one thing you know about me, it's my feelings on having to clean my own house.

Seriously impressive homemade cake.

She was asking for her cake the minute we walked in the door.

I'd like to say I captured more pictures from both these events, but Violet was moving so fast the entire time, the photos are all a blur. Girlfriend had some serious good times. It was fun watching her at the Gymboree party - the teacher was there to lead all the kids in songs and movement activities, and Violet was quite the participant. She's run to snag her place on the mat criss-cross-applesauce, following along with the song motions... I know it's stuff she does at school all day, I just never get to see it. She's a pretty good little listener.

Party no. 2. Someone has been practicing her "cheese" face.

Hands-free.

And she's in.

Mere seconds away from a frosting overdose.

Wisdom in the Glovebox

I have a little devotional book called Jesus Calling. It's small, it fits easily in the glove compartment of my car, which is where I keep it. I'm terrible about Bible study or daily devotional (working on it), but I can handle the two minutes it takes to read a pocket-sized bit of wisdom.

And because God is awesome like that, often what comes up on each morning's reading is exactly what I need to hear. Because sometimes God has to smack me upside the head with some obvious before I get it.

Lately I've been a wee bit stressed at work. We have a brand new curriculum, a brand new report card, and we're all working a mile a minute just to figure out what is going on. I'm living day to day, and for someone who revels in calendars and plans and lists, this is not my happy place. I can't see the road in front of me, I just know I'm on a barreling train and there's no getting off anytime soon. It's daunting. I thought nothing could be more stressful than last year, but I was apparently wrong.

I've been fantasizing about what it must be like to have a different job. One where lunch breaks last an hour (not 20 frantic minutes), where it's no big deal to pop out to run errands or squeeze in a doctor's appointment, where I'm not waking up 30 minutes before the alarm goes off (at an already-ungodly hour of the morning) already stressing about the day. A job where work stays at work while I can come home and devote myself to being the best mom and wife and human I can be. Waah waah,  you get the point.

And then I read this:

Sunrise over the school. My kairos moment.

Rejoice in Me always! No matter what is going on, you can rejoice in your Love-relationship with Me. This is the secret of being content in all circumstances. So many people dream of the day when they will finally be happy: when they are out of debt, when their children are out of trouble, when they have more leisure time, and so on. While they daydream, their moments are trickling into the ground like precious balm spilling wastefully from overturned bottles.

Fantasizing about future happiness will never bring fulfillment, because fantasy is unreality. Even though I am invisible, I am far more Real than the world you see around you. My reality is eternal and unchanging. Bring your moments to Me, and I will fill them with vibrant Joy. Now is the time to rejoice in My Presence!

Philippians 4:4, 12; Psalm 102:27 

So there I have it. Man, this is a tough one to walk in. It is so hard to live in the moment, the kairos time. It's hard to remember that at the end of the day, only one thing is Real, that the rest of this nonsense happening around us really doesn't matter. Because I'm down here in the fray. And things look complicated and overrun and scary. I gotta be honest, I haven't been getting a lot of that vibrant Joy lately. And I don't really know the secret to slowing down, giving it up to the Guy in Charge, stepping out in faith, being present for the kairos. But I'll try. I can at least do that. However imperfectly.

Excerpt from Jesus Calling by Sarah Young

Saturday in Stages

Ever wonder what this Noodle & Co. get up to on the weekends? No? Well, I'm going to enlighten you anyway.

8:00 a.m.

Friday night we had the rare treat of entertaining two dear life-long recently-returned friends from ITP Atlanta. They managed to find their way up here to the 'burbs to hang for some homemade pizza and philosophical debate. We finally managed to kick them out around midnight and naturally, Violet had us up and running by 7 o'clock the next morning. Our house was pretty much destroyed a mere hour later. The good news is, Violet made this mess entirely by herself, no entertaining from us required. Miss Independent.

We ran errands, Matt did yard work, I graded papers (thanks to our new curriculum/report cards, my team had a 45-minutes debate on Friday afternoon about how to grade the year's first spelling test, and I still had to call in reinforcements twice when I actually sat down to go over the papers), Violet napped.

Downward Facing Dog

After her nap, Violet threw a tantrum. I'm still not clear on what had so offended her. Matt and I  amused ourselves by taking pictures of her. I've decided this is a far better reaction to have than just about any other option.

Carseat's getting crowded.

When she finally calmed down, we headed out for dinner. Violet attempted to start a new fashion craze involving sunglasses. Matt was craving something different, something unusual, so we checked out this mythical place called Cracker Barrel. It was populated with all sorts of fascinating inhabitants. The food came in varying shades of beige. Then we went home and cheered on the Bulldogs to victory in the SEC. Not a bad Saturday.

Sitting pretty.

Comfortable

We're back in church.

Remember when we tried to find a church a couple years ago? And how that didn't work out so well? And how we started going to a small group instead? And how that was so much better, exactly what we were looking for anyway, a group of people to love on us and make a community around us and help us grow our faith?

Well, after going to small group for a year, we decided we liked everyone so much, we might as well try out the church. The slight hiccup in this whole arrangement is that the church happens to be way down yonder in Buckhead, a good 45 minutes away. Naturally, I've been balking at such a commitment. The commute to small group (cue the walk next door) is much more convenient. But if we're ever going to visit a church, it makes more sense to drop in on the one where we already know some friendly faces. So when Matt suggested it, I agreed. We'd give it a shot.

And without really thinking about it or noticing, we've been four straight Sundays now. Walking through the doors that first morning was as easy as slipping on a broken-in pair of shoes - it felt like we already fit. There were faces we recognized and hugs to be given, Violet was eased into Sunday School side-by-side her pal Christian, my neighbor K has been helping out with the kids' program and keeps an eye on her, it seems like half the congregation already knows me through my more-famous little brother.

It's small enough that Violet has the same teacher each week and has already made new friends. Cool enough to allow coffee into the sanctuary. Deep enough for the words of the teaching to echo back at me throughout the week. Real enough to speak the importance of compassion (just do it) and debate whether Jesus and beer can hang under the same roof (they can - I was relieved). Down to earth enough to wear jeans to worship. You know, just my style. We're already comfortable.

And that 45-minute drive? It's not so bad.

Long Weekend

Well, this is one much needed long weekend!

School has been its usual whirlwind. There is some crazy stuff going down in the educational realm, if you didn't already know. We're in the process of adopting a brand new, national curriculum called the Common Core. There are some good things about it, there are some not-so-great things about it (namely, that it was created by a bunch of people who haven't been in the classroom in years and don't seem to remember what a first grader is really like). On top of that, we're switching to a new report card/grading system. And of course, I just want my sweet babies to learn how to count, and read, or just sit still and listen. So there's that.

The good news is, I think I have a great group of parents this year. My room mom has already proven herself fantastic, sending in a bar of fancy dark chocolate for me on Friday because, you know, it's Friday. Gotta love that! It makes such a difference to have parents who are supportive and want to help out and have already started volunteering their time. I'm grateful to be in such a great school that way. Friday we had a Hat Day fundraiser (send in money and wear a hat to school) to support one of our teachers whose house burned down the day before pre-planning started. Can you even imagine? Anyway, I had kids bringing in 20 dollar bills, and others who brought in money even though they didn't want to wear a hat. Incredible generosity. So there's that.

Today, Violet woke up before the sun and by 8 a.m. we had already eaten breakfast, showered, dressed, and watched our morning quota of tv. Can you imagine, already running out of things to do by 8 in the morning? So we headed to the local sporting goods store to buy Violet some ballet gear.

Yep, my little girl is starting ballet next week! I was worried she would balk at the tights and leotard and everything else, but she was so excited to put on her "ballet swimming suit" as she called it. Hopefully she'll love it, because she looks stinkin' adorable in her outfit!

I melt.

We finished our day with lots of lounging, watching football (whoo-hoo, it's back!) and basically piled on the couch on top of each other. There's more relaxing planned for the rest of our weekend. Hoping you're having a good one, too!