Prom, Sunrise, and a Beautiful Easter

Prom
I decided to go home for Easter and spend some time on the Lake. The Staple's Children (Logan and Mary Grace) happened to be going to the BRHS prom the same weekend. My mom had been helping Lydia with the dinner they were hosting at their house all week and I was going to help MG with her make-up on Saturday. **Side Note: Logan is 5 years younger than me and MG is 7 years younger than me. My sister started babysitting for the Staples when Logan was born and then once I was old enough I baby-sat for them until I graduated high school. They were both in Nickel's wedding, all four of the kids played at Chip's wedding, and most recently they played at my wedding! These kids are like family and I cannot believe they are old enough to go to Prom.
Back to the Prom! Mom and I went over about 3:30 and I went to work on MG's make-up. It was so much fun to play dress up with MG and Olivia Tess! After we were done with make-up and getting her dressed they all took pictures. Mom and I stayed until all the kids sat down for dinner. There were like 14 kids at the dinner and they seemed to have a great time! I enjoyed spending time with MG and Logan during this special time! Logan will be going to Berry College in Rome, GA come August and I know he will do great things in college. Berry is right by Chip and Cara so he will be well taken care of! Now for the pictures!

Mary Grace and I 

Mary Grace and Olivia Tess

Me, Big E, Mary Grace, and Logan

Me and Logan

Mary Grace and Logan

MG's date, MG, Logan, and Savannah

All the kids and their parents before dinner!

Sunrise Service

My home church (First United Methodist Church Dadeville) has started doing Easter Sunrise Services again. Last year we went to Mr. Guy and Mrs. Martha Perry's Farm outside of Dadeville and it was beautiful. This year they hosted the service again. It was foggy/misty/soupy but it was still a very moving service. The Men's Group in our church built three crosses last year and this year they added a rock altar. there is just something about being up in the quiet solitude to reflect the Resurrection of our Risen Savior! 

Rock Altar

The crosses, altar and beautiful tree!

Altar again

The crosses

You ask me how I know He Lives, He Lives within my Heart!

Easter was very low-key this year. It was Nickel's weekend to work, Chip had to work, and Matt was definitely working so Mom and I went to church and then enjoyed a quiet afternoon on the deck enjoying the sun. We did not even eat anything special for Easter Lunch. I am not going to lie: It was pretty much wonderful. As hectic as my life can be sometimes I need a weekend of nothingness and sunshine. Lake Martin is my happy place. Ever since I moved away to go to college at UA I long for days on the Lake. Most people that visit the Lake feel the same way. It just calls to you when you are not there. I did not realize how good I had it until I left. Which in the same way makes it that much sweeter every single time I get to visit! 

I missed Matt like something fierce, but like I tell everyone this is the life we chose to live. I knew what being a plant wife entailed. My mom did it for 20 something years and she is a huge blessing when I am having a tough time. My sis-in-law Cara is also in this battle with me, so it makes it ok. I feel blessed that Matt has a job. It is hard and I would be lying to say that I get through every single day without having a "moment". Thankfully I have people that check on me and invite me to do things so I am not just sitting at home feeling sorry for myself! Thanks to those people. (I probably should tell them thanks a lot more!)

STORMS on 4/27/2011

Who knew this day would turn out to be so devastating? I am one of those extreme weather watchers. Like the crazy kind: TV, computer, cell phone are on the weather channels. I have my mom to thank for this! She always had us watch every storm that came through! My sister is just as crazy! It drives Russ bananas having to watch the weather all the time! I had to take cover this morning and barely made it to school. Once I got to school the buses had not run in the county and then they decided to dismiss school at 10:30!!! Talk about craziness! I got home, took a nap, and at 2 pm I turned James Spann on again. He was handing out Tornado Warnings like ice cream. I sat and watched the Cullman tornado and then the Tuscaloosa one as well. I was in disbelief. The place I called home for 4 years was completely demolished! Taco Casa-Gone, Krispy Kreme-Gone, Hobby Lobby-Gone. Then it started heading straight to Hueytown. My school?! My teacher friends?! My kiddos?! The other kids at school?! Thankfully most everyone that works at school is ok, but Pleasant Grove (the town next to Hueytown) was hit pretty hard. Then once I get out of the bathroom Dadeville (My hometown) is taking a beating! I have heard from some friends in Dadeville that things are not horrible, but not good either. Hopefully it will only be material things and no more loss of lives. I pray for everyone who was hit by this tornado. I hope that tomorrow brings you sunshine and peace.

What Came First: The Chicken or the Egg?

Do you know the answer to the the question above?

If you know the answer would you please help me out? I am asking this because I am about to take on hatching chicken eggs in my classroom. I know you think I am crazy...but I am a country girl and I feel like I should expose my city kiddos to some real southern living! I got the idea when I was working on my lesson plans for the month of April. I have done Biomes, Mammals, Reptiles, and this week we are on birds. My thought was my Grandaddy always had baby chicks from his home incubator, so why couldn't I do that in my classroom? HAHAHAHA....So what did I do? Call my mother. If someone knew how to do this it would be her. I mean she is a Farrington and grew up on the Family Farm plus she is a Science teacher?! These were her exact words: "Mol, I mean your Grandaddy did that, but I don't know how to really do it." WHAT!!!! Then she said, "Check the internet." Ha, my mom is becoming so technologically advanced now! 

So then I go to my next resource: the science teachers in my school. Not a single one has hatched eggs in their room. So to the internet I went. I knew where I was going to get the eggs: My aide Wendy has a bunch of chickens and a rooster at her house and her son sales their eggs. So one problem solved. The next problem came about when I realized we were going to have to figure out if our eggs were fertilized or not! HUH? There were only about a gazillion different ways to figure that out: crack the egg and see if there was a white dot in the yolk, if you have a rooster they are fertilized, on and on and on. So Wendy called an older lady she knew and basically she said if you have a rooster, most likely the eggs are fertilized. To really tell you wait for 7 days of incubation and you go into a dark room and "candle" the egg with a flashlight. You are suppose to be able to see the embryo by then.

On to the materials- We are using a Rubbermaid container, a desk lamp, towels, thermometer, and a sponge (for humidity). I am going to put the incubator together tomorrow afternoon and then we are going to put the eggs in on Thursday morning. So in 21 days I will hopefully (cross your fingers) have baby chicks. My Aunt Vi (who has everything because she was a preschool director) found about my endeavor from my mom and sent me a great Reading Rainbow of eggs hatching. My kiddos loved it.   

       

Hopefully this will work. I have always told Matt that no matter where I live I want to have chickens. Why you ask? Because ever good Southern woman has chickens. This is going to be an adventure for sure. My principal just shook his head when I told him that we were going to hatch eggs. He said as long as they don't poop in the hallway. I think we can handle that! If you have any advice I would greatly appreciate it! 

**Side Note: Most kids with Severe/Profound Disabilities are never exposed to things we take for granted every day. I am determined to expose my kids to any and every thing I can.**

Where have the McMillan's Been?!?!?!?!?!

Where have the McMillan's Been You Ask?

Well....since Spring Break we have been going 90 to nothing! I have either a softball game or practice every day of the week except Wednesday and Sundays. Matt is driving a truck around in Kentucky/Tennessee every single waking hour it seems. Since I am using this as a record keeper I am going to bullet the things we have been up to since Spring Break (the last time I did a real post) and add pictures at the end to recap everything!

• Softball at Oak Grove has pretty much taken over my life! I leave school, drive to Oak Grove for practice and then when we don't have practice I ride with Wendy and her family to our games. Even though it keeps me really busy, there is something about sharing "The Love of the Game" with 9 and 10 year old girls! I now understand why Meg, Grandpa, Keith, Jeanna, My Mom, and Chip worked so hard with us before we started playing high school ball! Thanks to all those people who made/are still making Dadeville Dixie Youth a great place to learn the game.
• My two aides, my 8 kids and I planted a garden at school. See the pictures below. We planted cabbage, strawberries, and some herbs.
• The last week in March, Matt was able to come home for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. It was testing week, so I was not able to find a sub for Thursday, but we enjoyed the short time we had together.
• Matt worked on our Garden that he started in January. We were still having a couple of cold nights/mornings during that week, so the tomatoes Matt brought home didn't go in the ground until last week. 
• I bought Jalapeño Peppers, Banana Peppers, Red and Green Bell Peppers. Matt brought about 16 tomato plants and I planted 8 and gave the other 8 away at school! I am hoping to have enough veggies to make salsa and hopefully freeze some for the winter.
• My kids at school went to Soccer Special Olympics and the Prom with other students in Jefferson County with disabilities. They had a fun time and I am glad that I was able to attend with them.
• Matt is BUSY, BUSY, BUSY selling plants! Whenever I talk to him he is either on the road, unloading his truck, loading his truck, or putting plants out at a store. Even though it will not directly effect Matt, we would greatly appreciate it if you would plant a garden with Bonnie Plants. It is easy: the plants are already ready for the ground (no need to wait on seeds to sprout!!), it is a great way to cut your grocery bill (if you are looking for ways to save money!! Who isn't?), and it is a great way to get your kids outside to enjoy the awesome weather! Go to Bonnie Plants and there are all kinds of tips to help you start your garden. 
• Moving on after that little plug for Bonnie: This weekend I went to Nickel and Russ's to spend time with the girls and watch their soccer games. We got out of school early on Friday so I head to Trussville to play/watch movies/love on my girls! Saturday we got up and headed to the soccer fields in the 20 mph winds! I have never been a soccer fan, but seeing Carley and Scarlett out there was very exciting and fun! Side Note: They both expressed to me this weekend that they wanted to try softball-which makes this Aunt VERY, VERY, VERY excited! I really hope they try and love it as much as I did for so many years!
• Ok...Are you tired yet? Ha, I am going to be better about blogging. I am trying to use this as a scrapbook of some sort and failing miserably at it! Oh well, a busy life is better than being bored right?! Oh one more thing: Easter is just around the corner! Like a week away! I participated in Lent this year and gave up my addiction: DIET COKE! So not only do I get to celebrate my Risen Lord next Sunday, but I get to drink a DIET COKE!!!! Ah...I can't wait for that refreshing goodness...It is so bad, that I went to CVS today to pick something up and I saw that they had Coke products 3/$10...Yes I bought 1 Coke Zero Cherry for school this week and 2 cases of DIET COKES for Sunday!  

Now for the pictures (Sorry they are out of order!):

Carley is the one in the pink shin guards! Carley's team is called the White Diamonds.

Scarlett playing with her ball during Carley's game!

Lawson enjoying the games in the wind!

My kids made heads of cabbage before we planted our garden!

Planting our garden (That is Wendy in the overalls)!

We even got a sign to let everyone at school know to plant Bonnie Plants!

Our practice game-All I need is a ball bucket and I would be Richard White! :)

After Matt made the rows in our garden.

Freshly planted garden: Peppers are the first two rows and tomatoes are the other 3.

Pepper Plants-They have doubled in size in 2 weeks.

Better shot of the garden.

Again

Scarlett's game-They are called Girl Power.

About to have the ball passed to her. She is in on the right side of the girl with the ball.

Carley practicing her dribbling!

Until next time! Have a wonderful week that I hope is full of Sunshine!

A Very Special "Happy 2nd Birthday!"

Happy Birthday Maddie!!!!

Me, Lindsey, Maddie, and Katie

Maddie's First Week Home!

 

Matt's first time to hold Maddie the day she came home from the hospital!

Halloween 2009- I tried to get the same pic of Matt and Maddie to load, but it wouldn't!! Sorry Matt!

Maddie in March when I saw her last!

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl! Matt and I love you very much and we are so lucky to be a part of your life! Have a wonderful Barnyard Birthday on Saturday! We will see you soon!

Check out Lindsey's Blog next week to see Maddie's Birthday Party!