Another Broken Egg Cafe

Yesterday morning I went to breakfast with a teacher from my 2nd grade team. We went to an ADORABLE and DELICIOUS restaurant in Mountain Brook called Another Broken Egg Cafe. If you have not been there, you are certainly missing out. I had the most wonderful banana's foster pancakes with a nice large glass of coke. It was quiet and quaint and all the things that you want in the early morning hours. If you are from the Birmingham area, go check it out! They are open from 6:30 am to 2:00 pm every day!

PS- Yes, it was still dark as I waited for my friend. Holy smokes, I am ready for the time change!

19 Little Pumpkins Lined in a Row

We painted pumpkins in my class!! We measured and compared sizes, wrote personal narratives of the life of our pumpkins, then came to my table in groups of 4 and 5 and painted. It was stressful. It was messy. It was fantastic.

Aren't they precious?

Thanks for the great pumpkin math suggestions my friends!

Greek

I have a secret obsession. I love the show Greek on ABC Family. I have never met anyone who watches it, it is complete trash in the way of moral fiber, and it is mindless college drama. I graduated from college 2 1/2 years ago. I shouldn't have any urge to watch this. And yet, each week I go back. I console myself with the fact that I no longer watch Grey's Anatomy (major accomplishment- I really did quit after the premiere!) All season I have been waiting for two characters to confess their undying love for each other and ride off into the sunset of happily ever after and tonight it finally happened. So, for the first Monday night in 6 or 8 weeks, I will go to bed happy, knowing that Casey and Cappie are FINALLY together. Yay :)

Core Weekend 2009

Brian and I are Core Group leaders at our church. This is just a small group time with the middle and high school youth. Normally the groups start in 7th grade and the goal is for the leader to move up with the kids. In my case, I have been blessed to have senior girls for the past two years. For both groups their leaders could not commit another year or graduated from Samford, so I stepped in. I LOVE it and them! It is cool to spend time in God's Word with them in this major transitioning year before they head to college- We are reading the book Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper. It is a great book to get you focused on serving Christ and being sure your life is dedicated to serving Him.

Anyway, this past weekend was Core Weekend, where our Core Groups get together and just spend the weekend together. Only 2 of my 4 girls could make it because of college visits and ACTs and homecomings, but it was really fantastic. We painted, shopped, and ate- the makings of a fantastic weekend! Our conversation was God glorifying and I feel like we really got to know each other on a deeper level. I am so excited about what is to come the rest of the year!

Here are some major highlights of the weekend-

My pumpkin cupcakes! We are going to a Halloween party next weekend, so I am hoping to recreate these to look a little better, but it's a good start :)

One of my girls absolutely went crazy when my odometer hit 200.9 miles- she yelled and screamed and insisted we stop and take a picture. I couldn't get the picture to turn out great, but you get the idea.

The other girl's father was hunting over the weekend and she had just told us a little known fact about deer. Did you know that when deer are born, they are always twins? But when the mother deer is malnourished it disgests one of the twins for food, and when it is realllly malnourished, it digests both. So we are driving down the road and she starts ranting about the twin deer with spots on the side of the road. After insisting to turn around, we found out she was right, stopped, took a picture, and discussed it the entire way back to the house. Apparently this mother deer was healthy.

Have a blessed week my friends!

I heart cold weather!

Though I don't sell anything, I love homemade items- whether I make them or someone else does. Go check out Show Us Your Life at Kelly's Korner- This week is What Do You Make? It's excellent!

In other news- TOMORROW'S HIGH IS 56!!! I adore cold weather. I like to cuddle with Brian and Bodie by the fire. I like to drink hot chocolate. I like to eat cold weather foods. I like to wear Auburn sweatshirts and cheer for my team. I'm so excited!

Have a blessed night my friends!

Auburn Traditions!

Kelly is hosting Show Us Your Life again at Kelly's Korner this week. This week's tour is sharing favorite teams, traditions, and how our schools tailgate. In my personal opinion, Auburn is the best. I, of course, am pretty biase.

As an alumni of Auburn University, my hearts SINGS for Auburn Tiger football! Nothing beats the Saturday before Labor Day when all anyone in Alabama can talk about it football. At our house it starts in early August, watching past glory days on the internet, listening to band cds, and planning which games we are going to attend. Out come the shirts, the shakers, and the very competitive nature. There's nothing like it.

Our coach Gene Chizik (Chizzy) coming down Tiger Walk.

Our first major tradition is Tiger Walk. During this, our team, coaches, and cheerleaders come down Donahue Drive to the band playing War Eagle, Glory, the Hey Song, and so many more. Everyone is there and everyone is excited.

The next major tradition is the pregame show! As a former member of the Auburn University flag line where I met my husband and my best friend, I adore the band. Pregame is high energy and high school spirit! I love when they come down the field in the shape of an AU!

One of my favorite traditions happens right before the band marches out. The Auburn Raptor Center lets the eagle out of a cage in the upper deck. The eagle flies around the stadium and eventually lands on the field as 90,000 people are screaming War Eagle. Whether you are an Auburn fan or not, it is incredible. And somehow the eagle never leaves the stadium, which is always amazing to me.

Finally, Toomer's Corner. There is a old tree on the corner of College Street and Magnolia Ave. that we (meaning all Auburn fans) roll when Auburn wins. It seems strange I'm sure, but it is really cool. There is nothing like driving to church on Sunday morning and passing a corner full of toilet paper that all of Auburn celebrates. It develops this sense of unity in a weird and crazy way. You really can't beat it.

Well, I hope you enjoyed reading about some of Auburn's traditions! I can't wait to read about how everyone else celebrates football!

DIY Cross Picture

So, with a mixture of my time looking at blogs and me being me, I am really in a crafty mood lately. My students have made a Halloween banner with color and draw it yourself witches, bats, and pumpkins and I am writing in my lesson plans that they will paint pumpkins for a Halloween activity (somehow I need to make that educational- any ideas?) I have a list of crafts I would like to give as gifts for either a wedding or Christmas and I am trying like crazy to work my way through them. Well, I have finished craft #1 and I am super pleased! I obviously can't post all of them here because I don't want to ruin any surprises, but I will show what I can :)

Materials- Thin canvas (Less than $5 for 2), Scrapbook paper of choice (.59), Modge podge, Cross from Hobby Lobby ($3.50), Hot glue gun, Frame and Mat as you like!

I used the modge podge to stick the paper to the canvas. Next, I hot glued the cross to the canvas. Finally, I matted and framed it.

Voila! This is it being modeled on the wall. It has since come down and will be wrapped.

Have a blessed evening my friends!

Great friends, fantastic football, and good parenting

This weekend, Brian and I headed up to Tennessee. We went with Ryan Lee and Jake to see some sweet friends who moved up there this summer. Ryan and Brittany grew up in TN, then moved here for Ryan's pharmacy school at Samford. He's finished and is now working at Wal-Greens in TN close to their hometowns. We have missed them so much and were so excited to see them!

What a fun weekend! We spend SaturDAY in Gatlinburg, shopping at the outlets and eating at the Apple Barn. I got an ADORABLE sweater, but managed to have some self control through the rest of the trip. I was pretty proud of myself. I generally don't handle outlets too well. THEN we headed to Knoxville to see our Auburn Tigers play the Tennessee Volunteers. It was our first away game as "real people" and I loved it!

Our defense seemed to have improved this week and special teams got a little more running in before they ran into people. We won the game 26 to 22! War Eagle!

My favorite part about the game (aside from winning, of course) had to be the father/ son pair in front of us in the stadium. As a teacher I have seen lots of parents... good, bad, and indifferent. The growing trend in parenting seems to be dads who are happy to let the mom do the parenting and have very little relationship with their child. I know this isn't the case in all situations, but I have seen a lot of it in my past 2 classes. Then, last night, I was encouraged. A father and son had come to the game, as Auburn fans. The boy was in 3rd grade. The dad spent the game explaining different aspects of the sport (such as a chop block and what the tackle box is- HA I learned new terms too) and the boy was ENGROSSED, not only in the game but in spending time with his father. He would constantly look up at him, ask him questions, and talk to him. The father kissed him on the head and hugged him at least 10 times. The dad clearly enjoyed the game and Auburn football, but was focused on his son. It was a great time for me to see such a good model of how wonderful parenting can be, for both the father and the mother. It left me excited to one day be able to do that with Brian.

The weekend was a blast! We had 2 VERY late nights in a row, so I am sure tomorrow morning will come early, but it was SO much fun!

I hope you had a blessed weekend my friends! Happy Sunday!

Oh and did I mention---

Auburn's #17 in the nation!

How about them Tigers?

Lovin' Fall

I am LOVING this fall weather!!

Here are some things I am into this fall...

Have you seen the painted pumpkins? Beth at Design-A-Peele has inspired me with polka dotted pumpkins- Aren't they cute?

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I ADORE these pants from New York and Company. They are SO comfortable and fit great! I got them in grey and khaki and they are the best! Plus, they look adorable with a blue jean jacket!

When I think fall, I think Auburn football. War Eagle!

Finally, cowboy boots! I bought a pair last year, but only got to wear them a few times. I pulled them out yesterday and got lots of compliments! I think I would fit in well in Texas :)

What are YOU loving this fall?