Riding First Class

One of Ethan's friends, Fletcher, won a local radio contest. His prize was a trip to Chick-fil-a in a limo and a ride to school for himself and nine of his friends. I teach with his mother, Rachel, at Walker Valley. She invited boys from Ethan's school, including several children whose parents teach with us. Ethan was so excited. He woke up extra early to get dressed and ready for the adventure. We arrived at Rachel's house at 6:45 am. It was very early. The boys were so funny. They stood by the street and jumped up and down when the limo rounded the corner. One of the parents made a joke about all the parent paparazzi standing around with flashing cameras. Ethan said the limo had blinking lights and even a cooler inside. Obviously, he was impressed.

When we arrived at Chick-fil-a, the boys were treated to chicken biscuits and orange juice. I think the boys were more excited about the play area. The dj was a sweet girl who seemed a little overwhelmed with so many little boys running around. On the ride to school, the boys passed a cell phone around and got a chance to talk on the radio. Ethan grabbed the phone and shouted, "I'm Ethan Caldwell and my friend Will is weird." He is definitely all boy! The boys were so funny getting out of the limo at school. They thought they were first class. It sure was an exciting morning.

Chattanooga Zoo

We had the day off school today for President's Day, so I decided to take the boys to the Chattanooga Zoo. Being used to the Columbus Zoo, I was in for a shock. While the exhibits are very nice in Chattanooga, it is very small. It took us an hour to go through the entire zoo. So much for the entire afternoon. The weather was very nice so we tried to take our time. The advantages of a smaller zoo is that there are no crowds and you can see the animals up close. The boys had a good time and I enjoyed our visit to Panera's when we finished.

A Red Panda

Bowling with Madison

Tyler's girlfriend at LaPetite is Madison. (He has two girlfriends and the other one is Haley.) Madison had her birthday party on Sunday. Of course, we had to attend the party. She had it at the bowling alley. Tyler stresses me when he bowls. He throws the ball and has a tendency to drop it. Once, it did not make it all the way down the lane. He even bowled on the lane next to us. When the bowling was over, he helped Maddie open all of her gifts. They were like two peas in a pod.

A Day Off School (Again)

I just found out that we are getting out of school 2 hours early due to wind. We have now been out of school for snow flurries, wind, cold temps, and rain. Crazy! I need one full day with my students. I am feeling so behind and know that I can't catch up on the material. Oh well. I will probably pick up the kids and rent a movie for the afternoon. Who ever heard of getting out of school for wind?

Daisy

Seeing as how I had nothing else to do this weekend but recoup from surgery, we decided to go buy a dog. This is what happens when the weather turns nice. We went to the Lee University baseball game on Saturday for about an hour and stopped at the ARK animal rescue center on the way home. This was our second week in a row there. Chris loved this beagle named Daisy. She is a mix and smaller than a normal beagle. I relented and gave the boys my blessing. I have to say so far she is the perfect dog. She does not bark, shed and is house trained. I really do like her, but don't tell Chris.

Baby Number 3
(Ok, not really...)

I started having pain about a year and a half ago. It was intermittent, but when it hit, it hit hard. I had surgery last March on my bladder and hoped that would correct it. About three weeks after surgery, the pain was back. I made due and managed to teach, go to Disney, and live everyday while taking too much medication. Finally, my OB said, "I think you have a kidney stone. Drink a lot of water." So, I started drinking a gallon of water a day. This made my life as a teacher difficult, but did not help the pain. I saw my Urologist in January and he found an 11mm kidney stone. (That is about a half an inch.) It was too big to pass.

I had lithoscopy yesterday. They knocked me out and sent waves shooting through my body to crush the stone. Chris said when I woke up from the procedure I was crying for them to kill me if they couldn't get rid of the pain. After three doses of morphine, I calmed down enough to sleep. I am now passing a ton of little stones. I have quite a collection. I told my dad that I would post pictures online, but thought better of it. I am slowly recovering after feeling like I was hit by a train. Thank you to all of you who prayed for me. I am so excited to start my new life pain free! To any of you out there who have had kidney stones, you have my sympathy. I can honestly say that the pain was worse than having a baby.

Half a Snow Day

It started snowing around 10:00 am this morning. We were already in school. I had a difficult time keeping my students' attention. At 12:00 it had not stopped snowing so they let us go home. There was maybe a half an inch on the ground. I picked the kids up from their schools and brought them home. Immediately, they dressed in their snow pants and went outside to play. About 30 minutes later, Chris checked on them and discovered that they had built a snow man. I was expecting a small, pitiful snowman, but they did very well with the little amount of snow outside. It is now 3:15 and the snow is almost completely gone. That's the south for you. I'm sure our snow man will stand for a few days. Notice the hat on the snowman. This was a tribute to Chris.

Back into the Swing of Things

Ethan and Brandon Turner

Ethan is attending baseball camp at Walker Valley High where I teach. It is a hitting camp. They have a very nice indoor hitting facility. The athletic director helps to run the camp. His son, Brandon Turner, went to Walker Valley and now plays in the minor league organization for the Florida Marlins. He has been helping Ethan with his hitting skills during the off season. Chris went with him to camp today and ran into Jason Davis, a pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Jason and his wife live a few miles from the school and attended the local high school. I knew we had a major league player in town, but did not realize that he would show up at training. Chris and Ethan were not as star struck as I was, but Chris was amazed with Jason's height.


Ethan is gearing up for his first year on his new select team. We are playing with an organization named the D3 Stingers. Ethan plays on the 8 year old team, but there is also a 9 and 10 year old team. I am really excited to see Ethan get the chance to stay with an organization through the years. The coach of the 10 year old team is also one of the local middle school coaches. That should help him out in the future. My only problem is what if Ethan gets tired of baseball. I guess that can't happen.