On Friday June 24th, armed with four brand new Strawberry Shortcake DVDs, we headed west for our annual summer visit to St. Joseph, Louisiana to see Granny and Grandpa Armstrong. This visit was extra special since Mark's brother Richard and Mark's aunt Arlene made the long journey to Louisiana to spend the weekend as well.
Turner had been looking forward to this visit for months, but much to her dismay we arrived after dark and obviously too late to go fishing (they live on Lake Bruin). However, she woke up Saturday morning and the first words out of her mouth (at 7:30am which is early for us without an alarm clock) were "Can we go fishing NOW?" We grabbed a quick breakfast and headed out on the pier to see if the fish were biting - and boy were the fish biting!! Turner, Mark, and Grandpa all caught several fish (and she really caught them on her own - but had a little help pulling them in).
Here's a short video clip of her catching one! She hooks it at the 22 sec mark, but if you really want some entertainment watch till the end for Turner's reaction to touching it. Her reactions and commentary are funny!
And since I am way too impatient to fish, I assumed my post on my raft and watched the fishing from the water. When Turner got tired of fishing, she'd come swim with me. When she got tired of swimming, she'd go fish with her Daddy. The best of both worlds for her! She seemed to like to lay in the raft with me...
Admiring the big catfish Mark caught.
Not sure what was going on here but she's serious about something!
And here's the little diva shielding her eyes from the bright sun...
...and watching her Daddy do a cannon ball off the pier right at her! (She called these gorilla balls last year!)
Later in the afternoon a friend about five piers down (and a huge Auburn fan - War Eagle Mr. O.D.!!) came to give us an early evening boat ride. They offered us the opportunity to take Turner on her first tubing experience, which started out great and ended with a scared little girl! (She was fine till they got off balance and fell off into the water...I think she had NO idea you could fall off!!) Notice the difference in her expression riding with Mark and riding with me!
But, her mood perked up when Mr. O.D. allowed her to drive the boat for a while!
Of course there's always some amazing vegetables growing in Grandpa's garden that Turner needs to pick.
On Sunday morning we attended church with Mark's family, which provides opportunity for some fabulous (and unbelievably hot) photo ops afterward!
Turner and Aunt Arlene
Turner and her main squeeze.
And of course, there's always time for more fishing!
I included this one because it's a true picture of fatherly love....he must have put 60 worms on her hook over the course of our visit! On this particular day, he didn't even get his pole out because he was constantly baiting her hook!
And I was ever intrigued by the enormous amount of turtles that were in our particular area. In the early evening I stood still with my video camera and got the most amazing shots of turtles as they came under the pier and into the boathouse to eat.
We had a fabulous visit with family and friends in North Louisiana!
We're adjusting to our new normal around here and the transition to working in the summer has been easier than I had anticipated. While we've been working hard, we've also made time for some summer fun! This post is a little random, but let's just go with it. It's sort of a dumping of my pictures from the last few weeks!
The slip and slide is always a cool activity on hot afternoons...
And of course we try to make it to Camp War Eagle pep rallies when we can. Turner has really gotten into cheering this year...she's such an auditory learner and I fear it's only a matter of time before she learns some inappropriate language from our AU mic man! :)
Turner with her friend Jamil. This guy loves my Turner and boy does she love Jamil!
Though I wasn't able to help with VBS this year and Turner was too young to attend, we did enjoy the family fun night at our church last week during the middle of VBS week. Turner is fairly fearless when it comes to inflatables, especially water slides!
Turner was particularly excited at tonight's pep rally! That polyester uniform and the Alabama heat make for a very sweaty and red-faced little cheerleader!
Turner and Justin - these two are quite fond of one another! Can you tell?
Last year Turner joined Mark for the parent dinner and got to experience the tasty chocolate pie. He has surprised her on several occasions with a piece of pie waiting for her at the pep rally, and now it's sort of a tradition that the pie will be waiting on her when we arrive. She alternates between bites of pie and cheering!
Mark's staff is always so sweet to include Turner and make her feel a part of everything they do. She loves being around the big "kids" and they make her feel so special!
We are heading to Louisiana soon to visit with Granny, Grandpa, Uncle Richard, and Mark's Aunt Arlene! Turner is super excited to go fishing and spend a few lazy days at the lake! I'll be back with pictures from our visit soon!
Let me say first, that I am so thankful for all of your comments on Mark's surprise blog post regarding my new job. Most importantly, thank you Mark for your sweet words. You have watched me apply and interview so many times and have been so faithful to encourage and build me up when it seemed absolutely impossible. I am so grateful that I have you as my husband.
When I think back over the last two weeks I see it as a big whirlwind, analogous to the scene in The Wizard of Oz where the tornado picks up Auntie Em's house and spins it wildly and then sets it back down in an unfamiliar place. Our lives have been a little "spun around" over the last two weeks, leaving us in some unfamiliar territory. Let me catch you up to speed...
Two weeks ago tonight (that would be May 20th), I arrived in Andalusia to spend the weekend with my parents and BB and Matt in celebration of my Mom's birthday. I had interviewed for an Assistant Principal position that morning at 8am, but thankfully it was behind me and I was able to settle down and enjoy my weekend with family. That is until I had a midnight battle with a roach (if you know me well you know I hate nothing more than roaches) that caused me to slam my acrylic nail into the wall and dislodge the entire nail from the nail bed on contact. It was quite disgusting, and yes, the entire nail fell off this week.
Other than that one incident, the weekend was fairly low-key, and mainly filled with everyone doing whatever Turner wanted to do (specifically my Dad, better known as Pop). I swear the man would jump off a building for Turner - he had climbed in a tree during the week to hang a new swing up for the little one, and also put together a mini-trampoline for Miss Turner to play on while she was there. And he let her paint his fingernails...need I say more?
In the video below, it won't surprise you to learn my mom is a 35 year middle school educator, approximately 27 of them in physical education. Her gift is teaching, specifically in the area of physical movement and skill...so of course this was a teaching opportunity for her!
Mark was in the middle weekend of CWE training week(s), which is the busiest week of the year for him (and the two week span of time when we see him least and I take on the role of a semi-single parent). We were able to visit with him on Sunday evening, knowing that might be the last quality time we had as a family until the following weekend when school and CWE #1 were all over.
On Monday (May 23rd), I was called up to discuss the Assistant Principal position and to my surprise I was offered the job. I accepted what is really a dream job for me and had to resign my teaching position within the hour. I did have a chance to talk with Mark briefly to share the exciting news and then I had to head back to the classroom to make sure the end of the year celebration on Tuesday was one that our students would not soon forget.
Tuesday (May 24th) brought so many emotions for me, knowing that I was ending my time as a classroom teacher (this day marked 10 years of teaching 6th grade for me!) and knowing that I was ending my time as a Panther teacher, having taught alongside the same team teachers every day for the last 9 years of my career. I was unable to share about my new position with anyone, so I processed this quietly in my head and heart as the day came to a close.
On Wednesday, (May 25th) after a special called board meeting, I was introduced to the staff as the new Assistant Principal and was overwhelmed at the kindness and encouragement of my colleagues. After many congratulatory hugs and well wishes, I started the tough task of cleaning out my classroom. OH. MY. I had more junk and random items in my classroom than I knew about - I worked till dark on Wednesday and Thursday nights and still had some items to remove Friday morning. (Mind you, the work after 4pm was done with my best little helper by my side since Mark was now in the midst of CWE #1.) The pictures below show the various piles - trash, goodwill, take to my new office, take home, etc. The amount of junk I had was shameful!
For any of you that have been in my classroom, this is what we found behind the front shelf under the dry erase board after the books were moved and it was light enough to move again....um...that is disgusting.
On Friday morning, (May 27th) I was on my way to school to prep the room for the massive painting project we had planned for the weekend when I received a call from my Dad. He explained that they wouldn't be coming to Auburn that day because my Mom had fallen down some stairs at their house and broken her foot in several places. They had spent the better part of the early morning hours at the hospital, she had been transported to Dothan and was schedule to have surgery to insert pins and plates in her foot within a couple of hours. Happy 1st day of summer vacation to my Mom, right?
Also on Friday, I was informed that the request for me to start earlier than the previous July 20th start date had been approved - I was set to start work on Monday, June 6th. That date was slightly over one week away, and I had absolutely NO childcare plan for Turner for the summer.
Remember, all this has occured and I haven't laid eyes on Mark since Wednesday when he left for work. Needless to say, we had lots of fun topics for discussion over the weekend....when I put him to work in the sweatshop that is my new office. On Saturday (May 28th) we primed all the furniture in the room (which just so happens to be my first classroom at DMS from 2002-2003). We came back for the final painting of the furniture on Monday (May 29th) and my Dad actually left my mom at home and drove up for the day to come help us paint the back wall of the classroom. He did leave her with a cooler of food and drinks by the bed and she could get up minimally on her own. I know it sounds insensitive, but she assured me it was fine and he just couldn't stand the thought that I wanted the wall painted and it wasn't guaranteed to be done quickly. That's just how my parents are - whatever we need or want, they'll move heaven and earth to make it happen. Thanks Mom and Dad - I appreciate you more than I've ever been able to express.
Office before any changes
Stage 1 primer
With the new black paint - still horribly unorganized. Let me answer a couple of questions you may have: Yes, the back wall is black and I happen to think it's awesome. The walls you can't see are white, I promise. No, the intent is not to make it the "office of death" as some have suggested. :)
Of course Pop allowed his #1 fan to be his little helper...
I actually went into work on Tuesday, and then took the rest of this week to try to reclaim some order to my life and spend some quality time with Turner. I have gone through every emotion/feeling imaginable in the past two weeks related to this job change. Fear and nervousness before the interview, peace during the interview (thank you to those of you who were fervently praying at 8am that day), worry after the interview. Elation as I was offered the opportunity to work with my long time mentor and friend whom I interned with in the fall of 2000 (wow, was that really 11 years ago??) and with a staff who I respect and enjoy. Gratitude as I shared the news with my sweet husband and heard him choke up with pride as we talked. Guilt as I had to accept the reality thatmy decisionto pursue this opportunity (with full knowledge that it was an 11 month contract) changes Turner's summer immediately as well as the landscape of our summers to come. Humilityas I have been reminded this week of what it feels like to be a "first year teacher" again - with absolutely NO clue what lies ahead of you in the coming year, and learning to accept that there are scores of things I just simply don't know at the moment.
At various points this week I questioned whether I was worthy of this job....whether I had the skills and abilities to handle this task....whether I had made the right choice for our family. And by God's grace I had such a peace today (Friday, June 3 - two weeks after this process started) that it was, in fact, the right decision for me, and for our family.
I can look back and see God's hand in this situation in so many ways and I KNOW - just like I have known each of the previous times I interviewed and didn't get the job - that God's hand has been guiding me to this moment for years. I am trusting and praying that He will equip me for the exciting new adventure that lies ahead.
This is Mark. I am not a blogger but I'll act like one for a minute to let you know something about Sarah. She writes these updates and talks about her family and friends and how great they all are and never talks about herself. Well, she's pretty great too. Wife, mother, sister, daughter, daughter in law, musician, teacher......just a few of the roles in which she excels.
Well, you can add another to the list now: Assistant Principal.
After ten years in the classroom, Sarah was named Assistant Principal at her school last week. There will be some adjustments coming for all of us because she has to work a lot of the summer now, but all in all, this is a good thing. She has worked hard for this and, in my biased opinion, was a deserving candidate.
{Imagine some cute pictures here.}
Congratulations Sarah. Turner and I are very proud of you.
