Today is LID # 7. I've always thought 7 was a lucky number. In China the lucky number is 8, hence all the Olympic programing. As #7 rolls by I am continually reminded of the fun of having children. With almost 600 children at my school I get to see lots of personalities. Students are always asking if I have children of my own and my response has been "I don't have time for kids I have 600 of ya'll everyday". They usually laugh and then I tell them about adopting from China. It is fun to talk about and the students think it is pretty cool. I thought the number with Grover with it was cute. I think Grover is my favorite character from Sesame Street. I'm sure Emily and I will enjoy watching it together.

Day One Done (Finished)

I survived my first day of school, thank goodness! It is the beginning of my 10th year at my school. 10 yrs. holy cow! I don't think I am old enough to have been here 10 yrs. Guess I am older than I feel :) The first day at any elementary school is busy and ours fit the mold. My feet are killing me and I am reminded why I need to wear my athletic shoes this first week. Most of the day went great. Dismissal was chaotic but successful, try getting 600 kids in cars, vans and buses.

Steve had his first day of class as well. This is his 7th year at Baylor teaching math. His 4 classes are full with over 200 students, mostly freshman. The summer went by way to quickly but guess that's what happens when you are having fun. On a good note, the shot worked and Steve's leg/back is feeling great!! He has no pain right now which is awesome. We are hoping he won't have to get another shot for awhile and this one will last past our Italy trip.

Beautiful Sight

This picture is not of the sonic sign :) Monday and Tuesday we got some much needed rain. Our yard is looking a little more green, thank goodness. When I came out of a restaurant last night there was a BEAUTIFUL Rainbow. I couldn't help but smile and be reminded of all the blessing God has given to me and my family.

Phelps Phan

I love watching the Olympics! This week has been filled with late nights trying to keep up with everything. I started back to school this week so staying up to watch everything was a bit hard. Thank goodness for DVR and the msnbc Olympic updates. We got home just in time last night to see the amazing race Phelps put in in 100m butterfly. I have especially enjoyed swimming since that is a sport I could actually do, I mean not race in but get in the pool and swim. I will never be able to do backflips across a balance beam :) So for now I am a Phelps Phan and can't wait till tonight when he swims his final race and a chance for 8 gold medals.

Super Shot

Steve had his first steroid shot this afternoon. It was a much bigger deal than I originally thought. He had to go to a surgery center and sign off on all sorts of papers. The doctor was very, very nice and had lots of encouraging words to share. Dr. Schwartze used to work at Baylor. The procedure only took about 20 mins. but it was a long 20 mins for me in the waiting room, I'm sure it was longer for Steve. We are glad it is over and are hoping for great results. Steve probably won't know for a few days if the shot actually worked. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers!

Vegas Baby!

After getting home last night at 1:30 am I am now a bit more rested and ready to get back into the swing of things, although I am a little reluctant. We had a very relaxing and fun trip and it is hard to get back into reality. I didn't take too many pics but I will share a few.

A view of the strip from the plane. We were amazed at how much new construction is taking place and how much more was built from last year when we visited.

In my new favorite hotel, Palazzo. It is linked with the Venetian which is a huge hotel. The number of stores within the hotel is amazing. One of our favorite things to do is wander through the hotels and take in all their cool offerings.

Our favorite free thing to do is watch and enjoy the Bellagio water fountains. Simply wonderful! We paid for some shows as well. We saw Mystere by Cirque du Soleil again. We also saw Tony 'N Tina's wedding which is a hilarious dinner theater and Cher. Cher was good but she spent half of the 90 min. concert changing clothes, oh well it was an okay show.

Outside our hotel, Flamingo. We love staying there because of the awesome pool area. Since we spend so much time there we want it to be fun.Well, back to reality. When we got home last night it was to find a very hot house. Apparently the air conditioning went out yesterday. It is very warm inside right now and we are waiting for the air guy to come and fix whatever is broken. Luckily I have the Opening Ceremony to keep me company.

5 yrs. ago today

5 years ago today, 8-2-03, I married my best friend. The 5 yrs. have gone by quickly and as we wait in anticipation for Emily our home grows stronger in faith and love. We are truly blessed each day to be with each other. I am forever thankful that God brought us together at the perfect time in our lives.

This year to celebrate we are going to Italy. We wanted to do the trip during our actual anniversary but going to Italy during the summer is pretty pricey. So instead we are headed there in December during our school holidays. We will actually spend Christmas in Rome and New Year's in Venice. I CAN'T WAIT!!! So since we have to wait for the big trip we decided to do a little vacation to Las Vegas. We leave tomorrow for a week of hanging by the pool and seeing some fun shows. This year we are going to see Cher in concert, should be fun. We got a free airline ticket from our cc points so that makes it more fun and cheap.

Today is also Steve's dad's birthday so Happy Birthday Milton!

Friends afternoon

I was lucky enough to spend some time with Amy while she was in town to visit. It was great to see her precious baby boy, Andrew. Cari and Amy are special friends. We go back to when I moved to Waco almost 20 yrs. ago, wow I can't believe it has been that long. Cari, Amy, and I went to FBC Waco together and spent many special times together. Whether we are in the same town or across the country I know that we will remain friends!