College

Today I was graduated Summa Cum Laude from Troy University with my Bachelor's of Science in Elementary Education! I am a real teacher now...if I can find a job.

Another year....

On this day every year I am reminded that I am getting old! Yes, it is my birthday. I couldn't have asked for a better day. It has been a very relaxing day. I started my day by going to church. Then, we ate lunch and Sam and I took a nap! It has been a long time since I have taken a nap! I have recently spent all of Sam's nap time writing on lesson plans, working on my internship portfolio and notebook and trying to get everything ready to finally become a college graduate! Yes, that is right! I will be graduating Troy University this Friday, December 12, 2008! Back to my day...I completed my day by going out to eat with mom, Beth and Sam and coming home and eating birthday cake.

I guess I need to update a few pictures I have taken. Here is Samantha on Thanksgiving Day.
We drove to my Aunt's house in Pine Mountain, GA the next day. Sam got a new pair of "cha cha's" seen here. Sam has discovered playing "dress up." She was too cute not to take here picture.


Sam and I rode in the Andalusia Christmas parade Friday night. She enjoyed riding. She sat in my lap and didn't try to get up or move until the parade was over. I was so proud of her! This is the best picture that Katie's boyfriend Max could get. He kept running up the road trying to get a picture.

This picture was taken from the Andalusia Star News website.

Suprise at home....

When mom got home from work today, she saw a mess on the porch. She jokingly asked the dog what she chewed up. As she got closer, she realized that the iron piece that hangs by the door was on the ground. (This picture has been cleaned up) When she looked up at the door, she realized that someone had broken into our house!!! She immediately called the police. Before they got here, Jerry arrived. He took mom's keys and opened the door to have a look inside. He didn't see if the door was locked or unlocked. He just put the key in, turned it and opened the door. The inside of the house looked just as it did when we left the house this morning. The only thing that we cannot find is mother's laptop. Less than 5 feet away from her computer was my laptop, Beth's video camera and digital camera. When I left the house this morning, I took out my Bible and Sam's extra set of clothes I took to church yesterday and placed them ontop of my computer. Today, I used the bag I took to church yesterday so I had to empty it so my school notebook could fit in it. Never did I ever think something like that could happen to my house!

My Beauty Queen

I entered Sam into a beauty pageant yesterday. She has been asking to be in one like her Aunt B.B., so I took the plunge. She looked absolutely beautiful! She won her age division (19-36 months). After the pageant was over, she wanted to walk on the stage again. I had to carry her off crying. She loved being on stage! Here are a few pictures from yesterday.

Halloween

Ok, here are the best of the Halloween pictures I have. I did not get any good ones at all. I guess I will have to dress her up again just to take pictures. :)

I painted her nose, but it didn't last.

Sam was "crawling like a ladybug."

This (thumbs up) is good.

This was her mean football player face.

She found this wig and had to try it on.

Another fall festival

Today, we went to yet another fall festival. Sam had a blast! They had pick-up ducks, golf, go fish, bean bag toss, balloon darts, a "jumpy thing" (moon walk), a big slide and pony rides. I had to walk with Sam the first time she rode the pony ride. She told the pony to "Gitty Up!" She was a big girl and rode all by herself the second time! Here are some pictures.

Pumpkin Patch

I took Sam to the Pumpkin Patch today. She had fun. We also stopped and took pictures at the fall display on the square. Here are a few pictures of the day.

Why?

Yesterday I noticed Sam was beginning to ask more questions than she usually does. Today, she entered a stage that I was not look forward to her entering. Her new question is, "Why?" No matter what I say to her, her reply is, "why?" When I tell her why, she again says "why?" I knew this stage had to come, but I was not looking forward to it.

Growing so big.

Sam was playing with her foam letters today, and she divided them into 5 groups according to color. We have been working on this, but today she did it all by herself.

When can I say that Sam is completely potty trained? We wear panties everyday. She still wears a pull up at nap and bed time, but she wakes up dry a lot of the time. We wore panties out to eat last night and did not have an accident. That was the first time I've been brave enough try. I am so proud of her. She still will have accidents, but it is usually not more than one a day. I cannot wait until she is completely potty trained.

Letter recognition

Tonight as I was getting Sam dressed for bed, she said "There's an R, an E...what's that letter mommy?"

Shocked and looking around to see where this was coming from, I asked, "What letter?"

Sam pointed to my shirt and said, "That one."

Amazed that my child was reading the letters on my shirt, I said, "It's an L."

She continued, "An L, and an A and a Y."

"No baby," I said, "That's a X."

"Oh, like X-ray."

My shirt has the word RELAX on it.

We work on our letters every night in the bathtub. She loves letters! She is recognizing letters in books. She always identifies the letter "S". The number 2 and 5 are also the letter "S" in the bathtub. I let this go because she has the right idea. She knows that the letter "S" is for Sam, snake, and sock; it makes the sound /s/. "A" is for alligator. "B" is for Betsy the Bee. "C" is for cow. "D" is for donkey. "K" is for Kim (this came about because of her daycare teacher). "L" is for lion. "O" is for octopus like Henry the Octopus from the Wiggles. "Q" is for quail. "T" is for turtle. I'm sure there are a few more letter/word relationships she can automatically identify.

It is easy to forget that my brilliant child is only 2 1/2!! When asked how old she is, she holds up 2 fingers and says, "Two and a half." How funny!

Picking flowers

I took pictures of Sam picking flowers Friday afternoon. I was playing around with them and thought I would share.

While riding in the car today, Sam looked out of the window and said, "Look Mommy. The clouds are pink and white." I happened to have my camera (rare occasion) and thought the sunset was so beautiful I had to take a picture of it.

What were they thinking?

I have seen many people going to www.yearbookyourself.com and making hilarious pictures of themselves. I was bored tonight and thought I would try for myself. The pictures were so funny I had to share. Enjoy!