Time for a ROAD TRIP!!!

I am so excited...tomorrow morning, me and my friend, Stacey, will be hitting the road for a 6 - 7 hour drive. We're headed to lovely Mount Vernon, Illinois! What's in Mount Vernon, IL you ask? Nothing yet!...ok, nothing EVER! :-) That's just a spot that we chose to meet up with some more fellow scrapbookers. Two years ago, Stacey and I drove to this same destination and scrapbooked for the weekend with about 10 other women. We had a TOTAL BALL!!! We got a hotel room, called dibs on the beds, blew up air mattresses and set up our scrapbooking stuff. There were a few nights that we scrapped until 2 or 3 in the morning. Talk about fun! I think we spent most of the time laughing! (what's talked about in Illinois...STAYS in Illinois!) LOL

Anyway, we're leaving Georgia at 9am and headed to Mount Vernon to do it again. But this time there will only be about 5 or 6 of us. The others are coming from Omaha, NE. THAT's why we chose Illinois...it's about a 6 - 7 hour drive for everyone. We literally looked at a map, closed our eyes and picked a place that was equal distance for everyone. And for those of you who are scrapbookers, get this...there's about 3 scrapbook stores within a mile in each direction of the hotel we'll be in. AND, a super Wal-Mart. Doesn't get much better than that. We're gonna fill up the little fridge with snacks & drinks and get our SCRAP on!!! :-)

Well, that's a wrap for me. Got some last minute things to do before I go, then I'm gone 'til Sunday. Ya'll have a great weekend!!!

I went on a FIELD TRIP!

Before I get to the real reason for this post, let me say that, today, I had another confirming SAHM moment. I know I don't "need" anything to "confirm" that I'm a stay at home mom. But you know how sometimes you can lose yourself in a moment or in a certain circumstance? That has happened to me quite often since I've taken on this "position". Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being a SAHM, but sometimes I feel that my identity is fading away. However, today, along with a few other pivotal moments over the past couple of years, I got "confirmation" that I made the right decision.

Today, Jayla had her first REAL field trip. This week at her school is Community Helpers week. So, they went to visit a fire station. She was so excited and asked me if I'd be able to go with them. You have NO idea how happy that made me feel. I was so glad that she wanted me to be there with her. So of course I agreed to go. Not only because she asked me to, but because I've never been to a fire station before.

Man, when I tell you that those trucks are big...believe me when I say, they're even BIGGER!!! You can't really appreciate how large they are until you're standing next to one. Fortunately, ALL of the trucks were there today. One of the classes went earlier this week and there was only 1 truck for the kids to see. Jayla's class was fortunate to be able to see ALL of them. All being the HAZMAT (hazardous material) truck, the pump truck (with the hoses), the extension ladder truck, the giant command center truck AND the SWAT team truck, the police battering ram truck (not sure what the REAL name of this one is), and of course an ambulance. Not only is this a fire station, but also a police station. The kids had a ball. (and so did I)

Well, that's enough talking :-). Here are some of the pix from the field trip. Enjoy!

What a pretty truck! And the picture's not too bad either :-).

I know this picture is pretty blurry. But I had to keep it because I love the look on her face. The firemen let the kids go through the cab of one of the trucks. Jayla was BEYOND excited...can't you tell? :-)

This is a picture of the kids listening to the fireman telling them about all the tools on the truck. The boys really enjoyed seeing that big ole pick ax :-). On another funny note, the fireman asked if the kids knew how far a certain length of fire hose would stretch (I can't remember the exact number he said). But my Jayla raised her hand and said, "However far you just said!" All the fireman could do was laugh and tell her she was right. :-)

This is one of the smaller trucks (small is relative, I guess). They pulled it out for the kids so they could see it up close (again). And they even turned on the flashing lights and "briefly" turned on the siren. Talk about LOUD!!! Funny thing is, they say this isn't even the loudest one.

This is my Jayla posing for mommy.

Here's Jayla's class posing with "Mr. Fireman" and his "big ole truck".

This picture is funny. I took it soon after the truck was pulled out and the siren was sounded. The kids still look like their in shock...or they still can't hear just yet :-).

Well, that's about it for our Field Trip. It was such a pleasure to spend a few hours with Jayla and her classmates. It was SO exciting to see the excitement on these kids' faces. And Jayla was so proud to be able to tell her friends that HER mommy was there with her. To me, that's what having kids is all about, sharing in their experiences, and in turn, making memories with them. And I must say, I'll remember this day for a long time.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Tagged by Tangee!

Alrighty, I'm often up for a challenge. And being a blogger, you have to be sitting on ready :-). Well, I'm ready. While doing my morning blog reading, I came across Tangee's and I noticed that I'd been tagged. A word association tag, no less. So, here goes:

MATH: Difficult
SCHOOL: Necessary
PARENT: Loving (should be anyway)
CHOCOLATE: Delightful (and necessary..hee hee)
STEAK: Succulent

My words:

Love
Passion
Caring
Family
Hobby

Well, there you have. Short, simple and to the point. Now THAT's a challenge, huh? I guess it's my turn to tag someone. Diane, Renee, Adrienne, Veronica & Brown English Muffin...you're up!!!

First REAL school picture

Today, my baby took her first "school" pictures. I cannot wait until they come back in a couple weeks. Back in August, when we got the school schedule for the 1st couple of months, I noticed that today would be the day for Fall pictures. Don't you know that I had her "picture" outfit picked out on the FIRST day of school? ;) She's been BEGGING me to wear this outfit to school or church. But I ademantly said "NO! That's for picture day!" :D I know, I'm outta control!

Well, needless to say, I can't wait for the pictures to come back from the school. And, when she got home today, it was time to pose for mommy. So, here she is, looking like a cute little school girl.

Excuse the slightly messy hair. This was, after all, AFTER school. Her teachers claim she was "picture perfect" for the photograher though.

That's it. I'll post the "real" ones when they come in.

Enjoy your day!