School

A lot has happened since I really got on here the last time. Matthew and I celebrated 8 years of marriage last week. Whoo-hoo! :)

This was taken right after we came back from our honeymoon. Neither of us REALLY wanted to get back out, in our wedding day clothes and take more pictures. However, now we are both very thankful that my father-in-law talked us into doing it.

Also, school has begun for Ally, Noah and me. Ally was a little unsure about a new teacher, new classmates and the big jump from kindergarten to first grade, but she is loving it! Noah started preschool and enjoys having one of his best friends in his class and also loves all of the "fun stuff" that his teacher does with her class. As for me, I am enjoying every moment of it!! I have 8 little 4 yr. olds, and they are ...well, 4 yrs. olds!!! :) We have our ups and downs, but I try to look at the downs as challenges that make me a better and stronger teacher. There is one little girl who reminds me so much of my little Ally at that age. A very smart, outgoing little girl! The first week, I had each of my students come to the front of the class and share a little bit about themselves. I had to drag information out of each of them except for this little girl. She got up and said something very similar to, "First of all, before I get started, I would like to thank you all for coming today. I would also like to thank God for all that he has done for me...". She then shared quite a bit of information about herself. A few days later, she came in that morning and asked to make an announcement to the class. She stood in front of the class, like she prefers to do, and again thanked them all for coming and God, for what he has done for her. Then she told the class that she would choose one of them to be her helper for the day. I had to stop her there and continue with our morning routine. :) They all make me smile for one reason or another, but I will stop rambling on about "my kids".

I am so happy to be able to share chapel time with the others there and see Noah during this time. It has been so nice, knowing that he is right across the hall from me! Getting off at noon allows me to make it to Ally's school in time to have lunch with her occasionally! Yay! I LOVE my job!

Update! :)

Ok, so first of all, somehow I did a "system restore" on my computer right after adding more memory. This restored my PC back to the way it was when I first bought it! I had to re-add a lot of programs and re-delete the ones that I didn't want or use. Anyway, it could have been much worse! All of my pictures and documents are still there! :)

What happened to my computer?

My computer was running low on memory and I decided that I couldn't put it off any longer and had to add more. I have done this once before, so after re-reading the instructions on what to do (and what NOT to do), I felt very confident purchasing and adding more. Two nights ago I opened up my computer to reassure myself that I knew what I had, needed and was going to buy. The inside had quite a bit of lint, so I used the hose on my vacuum cleaner and very carefully vacuumed it out. I took the current memory stick out and after looking at it for a brief moment, I put it back in it's place. Then I closed it back up and restarted my computer. Right away, new notices and messages started popping up, including something like, "congratulations on the purchase of your new computer"! What?! Then an option for a tour popped up along with many others to add things and change settings and such. The first thing that I did, was to check for my photos and documents that had been saved. Yay!!! They were still there! Whew!!! What a relief! All of the programs that I had were still showing on my desktop, along with several new ones (ones that I think I deleted shortly after I bought the computer). This seemed extremely strange, but it could be much worse! I went that next day and bought what I needed and added it as soon as I got home. I was so happy to see that it was running MUCH faster again and went to open a program that I use often. It wouldn't open. It said something about the registration info missing. I tried another program that I had added, and the same thing. Then I got a little worried! After trying a few things, I think I am just going to have to add these back one at a time. Has anyone ever experienced this? Know how or why this happened? Maybe have a clue how to easily fix it? :) I asked someone when I was buying the memory, but they told me that they don't understand why this would have happened. I am a pretty optimistic person, and find myself saying a lot, "things could always be worse!". In this case, it is so true! Although I do have an external hard drive that I have saved most photos and important documents to, I could be without that and have lost them on this one as well! Thank you Lord, that it is not as bad as it could have been!

riding the mower

Two days ago, I got out on the mower to mow the lawn again. Noah and Ally both like to ride with me for a little while, then they get tired and get off. This day, Noah got on with me as soon as I got started and rode for several laps around the backyard. He was barely sitting on the front edge of the seat in front of me, kind of standing while leaning back. I thought it would be more fun for him to steer (with a little help, of course) and put his hands on the steering wheel. It seemed like every time we made a turn he would let go, so I would put his hands back on the wheel. I also gently pushed the back of his head up against me, so that when we went over bumps, his head wouldn't bounce anymore. After making several rounds like this, I looked down and realized that he was about out of it!! His eyes were closed and he was trying to sleep! The poor thing! No wonder he kept letting go of the wheel. I don't know how he continued to stand there. I lifted him up and placed him on my lap. Then he went from my lap to over my shoulder. I finally decided to take him in. :) My poor baby was exhausted!!!

saying goodbye

I thought for sure that I would be in bed early last night. It was one of those days where all I wanted to do was come home and take a nap! :) I took the kids swimming with their cousins yesterday morning, so I think that may have had something to do with it (although I didn't do a whole lot of swimming myself). Then I went to work and took all of the kids to their Tae Kwon Do class. I hadn't really done a whole lot before I got home, but still, I felt exhausted! Somehow, I ended up crawling into bed around 3:30 this morning!!! I finally got into cleaning the house, and once I get started, I like to clean it all! I had been trying to get a lot of this done ever since I started this new job, and it just seemed like I couldn't find the time. Once we were dressed and out of the house, we seemed to find something to do before coming back home. Anyway, it is so much easier to clean when everyone is in bed and I have no interruptions, and I got a lot done.

Today will be the last day for a long while that we get to spend with my oldest brother and his family . They leave to head back to Spain in the morning. It has been great seeing them after two years! We will miss y'all very much Matt, Pilar and girls!!!

the dentist visit

Today was art day at work. We have field trips 3 days a week, and since I am one of the drivers, we usually only have art twice a week. Since I had a few kids tell me that they weren't here for some of our crafts, I pulled out all of my leftovers from the previous weeks, and allowed each of them to use those and other craft materials to make whatever they wanted. We had some make caterpillars, purses, crosses, family trees and several other interesting things. They really enjoyed it I think.

As soon as I got off at noon, we headed to the dentist's office. Noah has one cavity. Ally will be in braces in about five years. Ugh! That's something that I know very little about, and I am not really looking forward to.

Ok, I'm off to get some cleaning done before dinner.

Pedicure

BEWARE! There is a photo of my feet at the bottom of this post. I have been told that they look like Flintstone feet. I had to post this pic though, because I had my very first pedicure a couple of weeks ago, and I LOVED it!!! Matthew and the kids bought me a manicure & pedicure for my birthday, and the gift certificate expired in 6 months. Since it was winter at the time and I didn't see my feet much then, I decided to wait. I actually called the place the weekend before and told them that my certificate expired that Monday, and could I come in on that day and use it. They said yes, so I finally went alone to make sure that it didn't expire and become a waste of money. I knew that I would probably enjoy it, but it was for a place out of the way, and I knew that I'd have to find someone to keep the kids for an hour or so. I finally got there and enjoyed every minute of it! Well, the pedicure. The manicure was nice too, but the pedicure...why did I wait 6 months for a free pedicure?!! I think this is something that I will have to treat myself to often! So, here they are. :)

Tonight I worked on another project for school. :) I am so excited about some of the small things, like my duty badges. That sounds kinda funny, but I don't know what else to call them. Maybe it's just the word "duty". Duty. I don't know. Anyway, this summer at the daycare, I have probably heard a hundred times, "I want to be the line leader!" or "he/she was the line leader yesterday!". That one I have heard over the years, but "I wanted to turn the light off!" was one that surprised me. They actually argue over things like that...on a daily basis!!! I guess I shouldn't have been surprised since my two fight over such silly things all the time. So, the job poster that I bought had badges on the back that can be used for each child. I copied them, colored them, laminated them, made cute little badges hung on colorful ribbon out of them, and will have them each wear one every day. Of course they will be rotated. They include things like "line leader", "light monitor" :) , "door holder", etc. I went on and on about these, just like I am doing now, to Matthew earlier, and the second that I stopped talking, he started a new conversation on a whole different subject! Maybe the kids will be as excited about them as I am.

Anyhoo... here I am again, blogging at almost 1am because I am putting off getting ready for bed. It's not the going to bed part that I am avoiding. I could fall asleep right here and now, but it's the preparation that keeps me up so late. Sounds silly, I know. If I could just go to bed, I doubt I would stay up as late as I do. However, I know that before I can get into bed, I have to go around the house and make sure that all outside doors are locked, lights and tvs are off and that the kids' doors are left open. I have to put on my jammies, remove my contacts, remove my eye makeup, wash my face, apply my step 2 & 3 skin care products and brush my teeth. My cell and Matthew's need to be on the chargers and my alarm clock set. Ok, there may be more, but just reading all of that out loud, made me realize that these are probably things that most people (at least most mothers) probably also do. And look! It's now after 1am and I am still on here! Do you want to know why?! The batteries in my wireless mouse died about 3 sentences ago, and I actually felt that it was necessary at this time of night to change them out! I hated to think that all of this rambling (yes, I ramble a lot!) was a waste of time! Ok. So, I am now off to start my nightly routine. :)

Sweet dreams.

4 weeks 'til school

Normally, I would be dreading this. Not only is Ally now going into the 1st grade, but Noah will be starting Pre-K this fall! We are 4 weeks from this happening, and yet I am so excited!!! I'm excited about teaching! I'm sure the other will hit me as we get closer and have to get the kids ready for school, but right now, I am just ecstatic!! I finally finished cutting out all of the material for my classroom that I had laminated today. I cut some out earlier and then sat down at 7pm to finish up. Ugh!!! My hand is so sore from using the scissors for 5 straight hours! Poor me! :) Ok, I'm over it. Anyway, this week we painted the rooms, halls and bathrooms of the school , did some major cleaning and a few repairs, and now I am able to get my room ready! Yay!! It's getting there. Ally and Noah are enjoying the computers that we put in there. This was Noah's first experience with a computer. It was so funny! Yesterday, Ally and I showed him how to turn it on and when a box popped up, I told him to hit "ok". He reached up and touched the monitor where the box was at! :) I guess that's not so silly these days with all that comes out now, but it was cute to see him learning what the mouse was and how to use it to control the little arrow on the screen.

Tomorrow I plan to spend some more time with my brother, sister-in-law and nieces, while they are here visiting from Spain. I also need to get my house clean one of these days!! I really want it all clean at one time, even if it is just for a short time!

Goodnight!

Turtle Update

Ok, so it looks like the turtle thing is all over. I know, that didn't even last as long as the dog! The poor things just aren't getting what they need with this aquarium setup and the kids have agreed that they will be better off in a natural environment. We're hoping to find them a nice new home very close to here. So, tomorrow morning, we will head out in search of the perfect place!

Pet Turtles

Noah and Ally got pet turtles this past weekend. ...I'm already wishing they hadn't. I am really hoping that these don't turn out like our pets in the past. The poor kids can't keep a pet! :) We have bought 3 dogs since Ally was born and they were either sold or given away because we realized that none of us gave them the attention that they needed. The kids promised to, in the beginning, and then the dogs either jumped on them and scratched them, which they couldn't handle, or they just lost interest. Anyway, I was talked into getting Noah some sort of pet because he keeps trying to make bugs and worms a part of our family. We started out thinking that we would get them each a tiny turtle, a little aquarium and setup for about $20 a piece. Wrong! We found out that it's illegal to sell turtles smaller than 4" in Alabama. The 4" ones were $20 each, just for the turtle, but no one had any left. We finally found one place that had 3, but they were $30 each! So, two 4-5" turtles, and an aquarium. Then we went to buy rocks and things for the aquarium, and found out that turtles must have complete water for swimming and complete dry land for basking. We finally found a way to slope the rocks to make both. After talking with a pet store employee, we also found out that they need a heat lamp andUVB lighting! Ugh! Oh, and the original aquarium that we bought did not have a pump, so we returned it and got one that does. I forgot to mentioned that after we bought them, we found out why it's illegal to sell them smaller than 4". Turtles can carry and transmit salmonella! Yay! :( ...and my biggest concern was somehow killing the turtle!!? Well, the aquarium has been set up, a swimming pool and tanning salon added, and we've found that the pump does not reach the water! By the way, "Charlie" and "Trixie Ann" were purchased by Ally and Noah with their own money and the help of their Grammi (who also bought the aquarium kit). So, it's a little harder to give up on these pets! I will keep you updated on their survival in the Gentry home. Just please pray with me that Charlie and Trixie Ann don't ever become parents!

I will post a picture of them later.

Ally and I went out this past weekend to look for some new locations to take pictures. She is my little model. :) I don't have to tell her much. In fact, she kept pointing out spots and poses, and I pretty much just followed her around while she went from pose to pose. :) I have a feeling that someday, she and I will be shooting together. Maybe Noah will model for us. LOL!

New job

Some of you may know this.  Some of you may not.  I recently traded being a bank teller (which I have been on and off for about 7 years now) for being a teacher!  I love it!  I will be teaching pre-k 4-year-olds this fall at a christian school very close to my home.  Noah will be attending the school there, and possibly even Ally.  For now, I am teaching the arts/crafts for the summer daycare there.  Love that too! :)

Although I am working everyday now, instead of just 2 days a week, I am off by noon!  The kids are there, and I even get to see them most of the morning.  This job is such an answer to prayer!

My sweet Noah

I want to make sure that all friends and family know that our little Noah is safe and sound! Sadly, there was a young boy, also named Noah Gentry, who died in a drowning accident yesterday in Decatur. My heart goes out to the parents and family of this boy. He had just graduated from kindergarten, like Ally. His family and friends are in my prayers.

I am so thankful for my sweet Noah!!

Two years ago, my little four-year-old begged to have her long, beautiful hair cut short.  I really hated to do it, but her daddy and I finally gave in.  She instantly looked much older!  Although it was very cute, I felt like I had lost my little girl with just a hair cut.  It grew to be quite long again, as you can see in the graduation pictures posted earlier.  Well, my little Ally Grace has

 been begging again to cut it short.  I remembered what this did to me two years ago, and told her no.  Somehow she was able to talk us into this yet again, and since I wasn't about to let her chop it off before her kindergarten graduation, we took her two days later and here are the results.

Ally's graduation

Ally has graduated!  :(    Now, she has one more day to make up from the whole swine flu thing, and she will be done with kindergarten!  Where did the year go?  I am so glad that I was able to have lunch with Ally and her class occassionally and also help in the classroom a few times.  Mrs. Powell was great!  Ally loved her, (well, still does!) :)  and I don't think that her first year could have gone any better!  Thank you so much, Mrs. Powell!!!

Mrs. Powell's kindergarten class 

getting her diploma

the class clowns :)

Ally stayed up until after midnight finishing the book that she wrote and illustrated for Mrs. Powell.  "Oh Beary!"  It was a pretty good story!

Ally also gave her a Willow Tree 'Angel of Learning'.

Here is Ally & Mrs. Powell reading "My Tooth Ith Loothe!"

I have a feeling that Noah's clip will spend a lot of time on the red sign when he starts school!

One more day

Tomorrow is the big day! Ally graduates in the morning and I am still not ready for it! I guess I will just have to take lots of pictures and video.

Soccer is over

Ethan and Ally

Well, Ally had her last soccer game yesterday.  It rained for just about all of it, and the poor little thing isn't used to playing in the rain. :)  Most of the parents were heading to the pavilion for shelter while the kids started their game on the field.  But when Matthew and I turned around to see Ally following us, he told her that she should be with her team.  She looked back at them on the field and said "should I?".  She did join them, but it took several minutes for her to realize that she was already wet, and to just play!  We are still not sure if there will be a second season of soccer for our Ally Grace. 

School's almost out!!

I can't believe that Ally is just about finished with her kindergarten year!  I knew that I would have a hard time with her starting school, but I thought once she was past her first year, that it would be easier.  For some reason, knowing that she will be promoting to the 1st grade class at church this Sunday was harder for me to take than I realized it would be.  Does it ever get easier?  First grade sounds so much bigger than kindergarten.  Why?  I guess maybe because she is now in children's church with the kids up to the 5th grade!!  I'm hoping that making this change at church now, will help prepare me for when she actually starts school this fall.

Mother's Day

I had such a wonderful Mother's Day!!  As we were getting ready for church, Ally admitted that she had planned breakfast in bed for me and was a little disappointed that I was already up and half-ready for church when she woke up.  Since we were running a little behind this morning, we decided to wait until after church to open my gift.  When we got to church, they had a 3 minute video of the kids for all of the mother's to watch as we fixed ourselves a plate of breakfast!  Since we had been running late, I waited until after Sunday school to participate in that.  It worked out well, since the first service seemed to run a little longer than usual, and we had to wait for them to finish.  We had a great service, like always, and then Matthew and the kids took me out to lunch.  On our way, the kids each gave me a craft that they had made for me at church.  After eating more than I had room for, we came home and the kids gave me a very special gift.  First of all, Ally had made me not one, but two cards!!  One had a short poem in it that she had written.  I opened my gift...2 Willow Tree figurines!  I love those and have a couple that Matthew has given me over the past few years.  Today, I was given one of a little girl and one of a little boy.  I found out that Ally had planned several days ago to go and get these for me.  She picked them out and had wrapped them.  Also, in the bottom of my gift bag, was a picture album, a bracelet and money!  :)  Ally was worried that her daddy wouldn't get her to the store in time for Mother's Day, and she wanted me to have something special for today.  So, she put some of her special things in there for me and also money from her piggy bank.  She is such a sweet, giving little girl!!  I don't deserve such a special daughter!!  For so long, all I cared to be "when I grew up", was a wife and a mom!  I just never dreamed that I would be so blessed!!!

Ok, I guess you all know by now, that I like to post photos.  I had too many favorites, so I added most of them!  We came home from church Sunday afternoon, and it was gorgeous outside!  I grabbed my camera while the kids played on the porch, not realizing that it would turn into a family photo session!  :)  We all had a shot at being the photographer as well!  Just wanted to share, especially with those who we don't get to see often.

Noah's rock collection

Noah found a beautiful collection of rocks this past weekend.

He washed each of them off and then put them in a pile.

 These rocks were coming out of my plant pot.

 

He wasn't very happy when he had to put them all back, 

so we finally gave in, and let him pick one to keep.

 "Swirly" is now his newest pet (since his daddy

 wouldn't let him keep the earth worm, caterpillar

 OR beetle that he also found that day). 

Soccer

Well, Ally is half-way through her soccer season. She has begged since last year to play soccer (something that Matthew and I knew very little about). Matthew was involved with baseball, football, karate and more growing up, but never soccer. We finally signed her up, excited that she, as a kindergartener, would only practice/play on Saturday mornings. We felt that this was a good start for her. Not too busy of a schedule, and only for 7 weeks. They focus more on having fun and working together as a team. The first game was ...interesting! :) I'm not sure if she just didn't know what she was supposed to do, or was a little scared of kicking the ball (or other players!). :) Her second game was much better. COLD...but better! She actually ran around a little bit and even kicked the ball. These last two games have been fun to watch. Although, last week was quite warm, and I had forgotten that Ally doesn't care too much for the heat!! :) I asked her the other day if she thought she would play again next year. She's not sure. We'll see!

There are other girls playing too, but I think some of them are off picking flowers. :)

our spring break so far

Well, we are halfway through our spring break. We didn't plan anything big for this week, but Matthew did decide at the last minute to take a couple of days off. Since I work on Mondays and Fridays, he took off yesterday and today. Yesterday morning, we went fishing. He and the kids have been waiting for it to get warm enough to go. I didn't do much fishing, but did take quite a bit of pictures. No fish, but we all had fun anyway.


Matthew wasn't very into taking pictures. :) He was concentrating on his fishing!

After we left the lake, we went to a park where Matthew continued fishing and Ally and I took some fun pictures.

Today we planned to get out and take some family pictures. That didn't happen. Instead, we slept in, then made omelets for brunch and ended up renting a movie and just spent time as a family. It's been beautiful the past couple of days, so just being off from school and work, and enjoying the weather together has been great!

Noah found a ladybug and made it his pet. He named it "Marley". He really loved Marley. He panicked when he thought he had lost "her" (Ally says that she thinks it is a male because of it's color). Anyway, they both searched for Marley for several minutes before Ally Grace found her on Noah's shirt. Whew!!! Noah was very happy....but not for long. We found Marley on the kitchen floor and Noah confessed that he had "mooshed" her. Bye bye, Marley. I'm sure it won't take him long to find another pet. :)

Ally opened her own store. "Stan (stain) And Fix". Her bedroom door is covered in homemade signs. Matthew and I both attended her grand opening and received several discounts, freebies and a $100 coupon for our next visit. :) That's a lot of stains!! I mean "stans"! She loves playing store and office.

(if you click on the photos above, you might be able to read her signs)