Guest Blogger-Blake

I thought I'd let my kiddos tell you how their first week of school went instead of my trying to write their thoughts. WARNING! I did not change any grammatical or spelling errors...this is just the way he typed it! Welcome, Guest Blogger #1, Blake...a 7th grader at PJHS.

Well the week is almost over and its pretty much good. I have alot of classes with my friends. My favorite class is science with Mr. Dial and isshe. Isshe the class pet and its a 4' 4# ball python. Today i got to watch isshe eat a black and white mouse. I also got to put isshe on my shoulders the past couple of days after school....it's cool. My least favorite class is english. I don't like it because...umm
Inside a 7th grade backpack

The vast array of pens & pencils needed for a 7th grader

What Blake would rather be doing and does everyday after school before supper...his way of unwinding he tells us...lol.

We Now Return To Your Regular Broadcast....

....I have not fallen off the ends of the earth.

...My routines however, have.

...I am determined that tomorrow I will...
*get up on time
*get to work on time
*get my family out the door on time

...this back to school schedule is kickin' my rear

...hang in there, I promise I'll start posting again SOON!

Back To School 2008

I absolutely love the first day of school...my kids...I'm sure would tell you that they do not. For me, it's a time when life gets back to routines and well, let's face it, I love me some routine...although today was anything but routine! (a couple of major upheavals in some friends lives that I won't even begin to go into right now...but know that everything is much better now!)

The morning didn't get quite the early start that I had planned, but we did manage to sit down at the breakfast table and have toast and fruit before everyone went their separate ways. Mallorye drove her and her brother to school for the first time this morning...I'm quite certain that Blake loves not having to ride the bus or walk to school.


Blake survived his first day of Jr. High and even got the homeroom teacher that he really wanted. He has 3 Pre-Ap classes (Math, Science, & History) this year which should keep him on his toes and he has most of his classes with his buddies.

Mallorye was just thankful that she didn't have homework tonight! She has a very tough course load this year...College Anatomy & Physiology (which I have to pay for, but much cheaper than taking it in college), AP US History, AP English, Trig/Pre-Calculus, Spanish II, Journalism, and Multimedia...I told you it was tough and that doesn't even take into consideration that she also has volleyball after school. Whew! Glad I'm not her!! LOL! Sr. High had Open House tonight, so I was able to meet all of her teachers and even catch up with some she had from last year.


All in all, it turned out to be a pretty good first day of school. Blake's Open House is tomorrow night and I think I'll have the kids guest blog at the end of the week...we'll see if I can con them into that.

Hope everyone had a great day back to normal life!

Stress?! Who Me?

So, today ranks right up there as ... one of the most stressful days I've had.

I took Mallorye (16) to the doctor today to have her thyroid checked...I kind of had a feeling what they were going to tell us. We've been monitoring her thyroid function for the past 4 years when the first signs of a goiter appeared and it was discovered that she had a "marker"...elevated antithryglobulin antibody. Over the past 4 years her TSH and T4 has remained within normal limits, so we haven't stressed to terribly bad...but the past 3 months she has become more symptomatic...losing her voice, strangling in her sleep, difficulty swallowing...those kinds of things. Well today confirmed that her goiter was in fact growing and compromising her airway and that her antithyroglobulin antibody is even higher.

We were given three choices;
1) start her on suppressants which only have a 40% success rate with a small goiter...her's is large. The doctor did not feel that this would be a successful treatment for Mallorye
2) try radioactive iodine therapy...there is a high risk of several different types of cancers with this treatment and is not recommended for young adults
3) have a total thyroidectomy in which she'll be placed on meds for the rest of her life

Not much of an option if you ask me, but we went with door #3. I'm very nervous. I don't like the idea of my child being put to sleep and a knife being put to her throat for such a life altering surgery, but it really is the only choice. Her surgery is scheduled for the day before Thanksgiving (so she won't miss much school). Please be in prayer for us!

On a lighter note...a good friend of mine sent me the following picture of my youngest to cheer me up. This was taken at a swim party this past week.

Jenni, Blake, & Adrienne...hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil!

Downtown in My Town

Take a walk with me around my town...

In 1882 two railroads built their lines into the county and crossed at a point where a town would be built. One was the St. Louis and Iron Mountain Railroad, later to be known as the Missouri Pacific, headed by the famous railroad magnate, Jay Gould. The other railroad was Texas and St. Louis, later called the Cotton Belt. The line was built to ship Texas cotton to St. Louis. J.W. Paramore served as president.

Caboose that resides downtown behind the local merchant shops...also where the annual Loose Caboose Festival is held every year in May

When a name was sought for the newly created town at the junction of the two railroads, “Para-Gould” was derived form the surnames of two early railroad tycoons, J. W. Paramore and Jay Gould. Paragould evolved by combining syllables from the names Paramore and Gould, a truly original name for a unique town.

Mural painted on one of the old buildings downtown depicting early life in Paragould

Paragould was incorporated March 3, 1883, while it was still an uncultivated timber-covered tract. Most of the area was part of a 281-acre farm owned by a settler from Tennessee, Willie Pruett, who had purchased it in 1869

The Collins Theater, which as you can see, is still used today. I remember watching my very first movie on the big screen here..."The Muppets Take Manhatten." Today the theatre is used to host beauty pageants, gospel singings, The Nutcracker performance and many other events....The big screen is reserved for the new theatre in the heart of uptown.

The old courthouse which now is home to the Chamber of Commerce...was restored several years ago

The old clock tower that rests high upon the old courthouse...every day at noon it chimes it's songs

This older, more historic part of the town is often forgotten, but it really has some beautiful sights. Even the street signs are quaint, black iron with little filligree embellishing.

Paragould now has around 25,000 people and more than 30 manufacturing facilities. The newer part of the town boasts some of the best restaurants...Chili's, TaMolly's, Dixie Cafe, Zaxby's and more. We have two very large schools...Paragould School District and the Greene County Tech School District...an awesome community center...

It's just a great place to live. I've often threatened that I want to get out of this town, but as I get older (and wiser) I realize this is home. This is where I want to be. To raise my family. To hang out with my friends. To live life.

I hope you enjoyed my little mini tour of my town...there is so much more to see, but that will have to wait for another time and another post.

Historic information taken from Paragould Chamber of Commerce website.

Crafting Therapy

Tonight was our monthly Marker Club meeting and I enjoyed the low stress evening. Just being able to make a card and chat with friends was a great night...and so much better than the busy weekend of cleaning I just had!

Lisa A., JoAnn, Amy, Me, and Misty

We made this adorable card using the Sock Monkey stamp...I can't wait till some little person has a birthday so I can share the love!

And I had a little creative moment before I went to the meeting tonight and made this....

Wish lists for each person in my family! No more guessing what they want...when you think of something add it to the list! I've already added something to mine...not sure if you can read it if you click on the image or not, but it's a Nikon D60 Digital SLR Camera...10.1 megapixel...that's all...any takers?

Bloggy Makeover Giveaway!

Ok...many of you have said how much you like my new bloggy makeover...well, it's all thanks to Christy over at Ruby and Roja. You need to check them out. Today. Seriously! They're giving away a Bloggy Makeover for their Grand Re-Opening! Go Now. Check them out!!