Summer of 2012...1 to remember!

Well hello peeps! Where has the time gone?  I can't believe I am down to the last 2 weeks of the summer of 2012.  It has been one fabulous summer.  I'm not even sure I know where to begin. So much to say and report out!  If you're a new reader of mine, I should warn you.  I am not a "writer".  I just like to share about the "goings on" in my life and hope to at the same time, entertain with some of my musings.  So...you've been warned :)

I guess I'll begin in May.   Due to a lack of snowfall this year in the mountains of NC, I was out of school in mid-May!  IT WAS AMAZING!  Burn-out was at a record high and summer could not have come at a better time.  The Bennett family hit the ground running.  We were off to the "happiest place on earth"-- Walt Disney World!!!  I think Travis and I were more excited than Tyler.  We kept talking about all of the rides and how exciting this place was.  Tyler was excited, but he didn't really understand what he was about to experience.  He had been to Sea World and Animal Kingdom a couple of years ago, but Disney World...this had to be super amazing. 

The perfect planner in me KNEW that the best day to go would be the day AFTER Memorial Day.  Tuesdays are typically low attendance days at the park anyway since most guests arrive on Sundays and start their week of amusement parks on Mondays at Disney World.This would be super!  No crowds ,no lines,  minimal heat index, just perfect.  I couldn't have been MORE RIGHT!!  It was wet, rainy, and AWESOME!  We got up at the crack of dawn and headed to the park.  We were ready for excitement and happily ever afters.  Ponchos in hand, water bottles, snacks...you name it, we were prepared.  Travis and I had a BLAST!! Walked right on to "It's a small world".  I mean there were only 5 people in our entire boat!  It was just AWESOME!!!!  I know what you're thinking...what about Tyler?  I thought you were going for him.  Well, of course we were, but you know the kid inside of all of us :)  Tyler...not super impressed.  He took it all in, very serious, very calm, very matter of fact.  If you know Tyler at all, this is not surprising.  He smiled.  He rode "It's a small world" twice...He enjoyed Peter Pan and wasn't too sure about flying elephants.  It was so neat and strange to see Disney through the eyes of a child in this new technology age.  The castle was really not impressive to him..Why would it be?  He sees it before every movie he ever watches.  Mickey?  Minnie?  Donald Duck?  They're on TV every morning, so no big deal to see them wandering around the park.  That's the norm, right?  Don't get me wrong, he appreciated the trip, enjoyed his time there, but just took everything in stride.  He is a HUGE Captain Jack Sparrow fan now and that's cool.   We were some of the last riders on the Snow White ride which closed down the very next day.  So we can tell Tyler he was part of history.  He HATED that ride.  He was glad to know it was being replaced :)
A huge success in my book.

Next trip was to Turner field in ATL for our annual family Braves game.  Such a family friendly ball park.  Tyler enjoys running the bases up by the big coke bottle and we love our peanuts, hot dogs, and baseball game :)  Unfortunately, it was interleague play and Braves were playing the Yankees...so you can tell where this is going.  We did get to see A Rod hit a grand-slam.  I guess that's my "glass half full" approach.  This was also an early Father's day gift for Travis.  Great fun!

I should mention here that Travis spent the second week of May in Jamaica with the SMBQ.  His summer had already begun and he was livin' it up.  I won't spend too much time discussing this trip, mostly because I wasn't WITH HIM!!   :( I'm not bitter.  LOL

So now summer has come to an end.  Oh wait!  I forgot to mention a few other things.  What? you say.  There's more?  Well, actually yes!!  MUCH MUCH MUCH more!  How much time do you have?

This summer marked 15 years of marriage for Travis and me and Travis surprised me with a 5 day cruise to the BAHAMA's!!! So in mid June, we loaded up, dropped the kid in Tallahassee with the grandparents and set sail out of Port Canavral on the Carvinal Sensation.  We know how to party!  It was beyond amazing. Now would be an appropriate time for a shout out to Nana and Grandaddy for keeping Tyler while we were off cruising the Carribean.  The trip was great!  Relaxing, renewing, and so luxorious.  We enjoyed hot stone massages, breakfast on Lido deck, towel animals, etc.  We even went snorkeling off of a cattamaran.  I only freaked out a little :)  Met some great people and had great fun. I still can't believe that we've been married 15 years!  Makes me feel OLD, but we have been beyond blessed.  We are still madly in love and enjoy each other's company!  Heehee!

We were only home for a short while before one of the biggest adventures of my lifetime began.  For that you will have to read the next post.  It was so amazing it requires it's OWN blog.  I hope your interest is piqued.  All I can say for now is....STAY TUNED!!  Oh and I hope you've had a great summer too!  This has been one of the best summers I can remember!  And I've had A LOT of summers!  Toodles for now.

It's been a while....

It's been a great deal of time since my last post. Sorry about that.  No excuses, other than busy life.  I have had great things on my mind and pretty random topics, but no time to sit down and put it into words.  Here are a few things I have learned recently (or known, but have been reinforced in my life lately)....

1.  Parenting is HARD!!!

2.  God loves us, no matter what!!!

3. Work is hard and not always rewarding.

4.  Husbands are wonderful (almost all the time :)


Tyler is growing up so fast.  He's playing the piano, reading, changing, right before my very eyes.  I love him more than I ever could have imagined, but man oh man, he can be difficult!  I know my parents are smiling right now because they CLAIM, that maybe I was difficult at times.  I don't recall those times and besides, peception is reality right?  I had to have been the most perfect child.  Ok, maybe not perfect, but not difficult.  It's so fascinating how personality, something that we don't generally think of as genetic, shows up in the most annoying ways.  This kid is unbelievable.  He's stubborn, strong-willed, outspoken, smart; I'm going as far as to say "gifted".  Not trying to brag, but I've done my research and he's "textbook".  As wonderful as this may sound, I see a lot of difficult days in my future.  Lots of questions, comments, concerns, about things that shouldn't concern a 5 year old.  He needs details about EVERYTHING!! He doesn't forget!   He is and will continue to be blessed in so many ways.  I look forward to each day, despite the hard times. It's well worth it and even though my parents are reading and thinking "pay back", I'll cherish each moment.  :)

On to God loving me ;)  I love music.  Not the same way Travis loves music, but the way God has blessed me to understand, interpret and enjoy music.  It speaks to me more than any other medium.  If you want to inspire me, make me sad, happy, excited...play me a song with that intent and it is DONE!!  I don't know how else to explain it. God continues to use gifted singers and songwriters to speak to me in ways that no one else could.  There are too many songs to list right now that daily bless me.  I hardly have enough time in the car on the way to work to listen to all of my favorites and listen to God share his vision for my day through music.  I am blessed and thankful for the opportunity to experience music in a way that some can only dream of. 

Work, the daily grind, the part of the day that seems to drag on and on and on.  It's hard. It's a calling, a talent of sorts.  I enjoy being a teacher.  I enjoy working with high schoolers.  I enjoy touching the future, but as with all things there are those days.  I've seemed to have more of  "those days" lately and less of the bright spots, but I know I'm doing the right thing.  God expects us to be the best at whatever he calls us to do and right now, that is taking a LOT of work.  I'm NOT the best math teacher, but I'm trying.  I'm trying everyday to improve, to stay positive, to motivate the minds of tomorrow.  It's a long road ahead.

Husbands:  Well we all know everyone has an opinion on this topic :)  This year will be 15 years of marriage for Travis and me.  Can you believe it?  15 years!  I'm not much older than that! LOL  Anyway,  Travis is my soul mate!  God definitely made us for each other.  Travis is amazing!  I am so blessed and so proud to be his wife. He's remarkably successful at everything he touches so that means I'm not too bad either :)  He's loved and respected in his profession and the man that God made for me!  Of course it hasn't all been sunshine and roses....but true love is work and we work hard at it! 

I hope that this has been an enjoyable read for you.  It was fun to write and reflect.  Remeber, everyone has their "stuff", so thank God you have yours and not someone elses. ;) 


Yeah, I did make that up myself...hahahahah

How Great Thou Art

What an amazing song!  Everytime I hear it (especially Crystal Lewis singing it) it moves me to a place beyond myself.  I was driving home late this evening in the dark rainy night and I really had to concentrate to drive. I was having a worship service right there in my car!  I mean when is the last time you listened to or spoke those words.
      "And when I think, that God, His son not sparing, sent him to die, I scare can take it in.  That on
      the cross, my burden GLADLY bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin!  Then sings my
      soul...."
I mean WHOA!!  That is awesome!  I botch up so many things sometimes.  I feel like Paul when he talks about doing things that he knows not to do and not doing things that he knows he should do. If I thought for even half a second about Jesus GLADLY bearing my sin on the cross, it might just change some of my day to day, hour to hour behaviors.  I am so humbled.  If not for grace, how lost I would be.  I wonder if I didn't have grace if I would even recognize God's daily blessings to me.

If I began to list them, you would get bored and probably have to confess your jealousy over how blessed I am.  What about you?  How blessed are you?  How do I get up every morning and even THINK about complaining about ANYTHING!?  I am so abundantly blessed.  I am happily  married to the man of my dreams in a time when marriage is made fun of and talked about as an option and 50% (maybe more now) end in divorce.  Yet I have the peace of knowing that divorce will NEVER be a part of my life.  How can I say never?  Because of grace!  I have the most precious little boy a parent could ever imagine.  He is healthy and thriving and in my humble opinion, brilliant!  God has begun such an amazing work in him.  Who am I to deserve such a special gift?  I live in the USA, which I know these days doesn't seem to be so spectacular, but when considering the other options...Ok, I know you're probably thinking "I thought you weren't going to list them."  Well, I had to at least get you started.

"Then sings my soul, My Savior, God, to THEE.  How Great Thou Art!!"

Precious Moments

There have been so many precious moments with Tyler this past week that I just HAD to memorialize them so I won't too soon forget.  He's just at such a fun age.  His drawings are so cute and detailed and pretty amazing, if I do say so myself.  He tells us more and more about moments at school and everyday I learn new things that he is doing. 

Piano lessons are still the current struggle, but I think he's starting to see that it's here to stay. :)

I took him to get icecream and see a movie last night and the time together was just priceless!  I wish I just had a audio/video recording of the entire evening.  These are the nights I dreamed about before I was a mother.  As we sat in the icecream shop, Tyler shared with me: 

"Mommy, Mrs. Jeri bragged on me today at school"
"Really, " I replied.  "About what?"
"About my letter of the week folder and how nicely I had written my A's and a's."
"Wow!  That's great"
"Yeah, Mommy.  It's nice to be bragged on every now and then."

How wonderful is that conversation!!!  My heart just melted.  We talked about so many things, I can't even remember them all!  He was such a little man.  We had a great time at the movie, sharing popcorn and a bottle of water.  He was upset that we couldn't get Sprite (a new found love of his), but I explained he had probably had enough sugar for the day, and so....water it was!

The movie was "Dolphin Tale" and it was a REAL movie.  Sure, kids probably enjoy it, but no animation and a real story line were a bit of a stretch for Tyler.  He didn't complain.  He took it all in and really payed attention.  During a slower part he leaned over and said, as sweetly as only Tyler can, "Mommy, I love you!"  Again, my heart was full.  Melting actually.  Towards the end of the movie he climbed in my lap and we snuggled until the end.  The drive home was just as sweet.  We talked about reading another chapter in our current book "Peter Pan", and how it was past both of our bedtimes. 

Such a precious boy!  Just had to share!

Where have I been??

Wow!  It sure has been a long time since I've blogged.  It's hard to find the time just to sit down and chat to myself (so to speak).  I guess I'll start with all of the general updates.  To date, I have lost a little over 11 lbs and over 16 inches.  I feel good.  Clothes are fitting nicely.  Of course I still have about 9 more lbs to go and I'm not sure what that will translate into as far as inches go, but I'm excited to see :)  It's going much slower than I had hoped, but I'm older now and I'm finding that most things are slower now!  LOL

Tyler is enjoying Kindergarten.  As far as I know, he's doing well.  We've read over 65 books together this year.  I know this because I have to document each book on a list for his teacher. It's crazy how many times I have to write down that we've read a book.  Sad mostly becacuse I am sure we have to do it  to help other parents remember that they're supposed to be reading to their children.  He is enjoying music and art class that he attends once a week.  He has also started piano lessons.  He's not so sure he's going to like it, but for now he is conforming to my expectations!  His teacher is great with him.  I can't wait until he's playing little songs for me.  He is also addicted to Nintendo Wii.  I know, I know, not MY child, but alas it's true.  Most of our family time is spent racing eachother on Mario Cart.  It's not so bad, we have a great time and we're teaching Tyler to be a good loser!  (NOT!!)  He hasn't gotten to that point yet.  He still asks every game if we'll "let him win".  I think it's funny!  When he really gets on my nerves I just run off and beat him.  HAHAHA!!  Anyway, he's limited to 30 min a day unless we're all participating and having so much fun we just can't take it! 

Tyler is truly a joy in my life and I am so blessed that God has loaned him to me.  I treasure every moment with that little boy.  He's so full of energy and personality.  Don't get me wrong, he's a challenge, for sure, but I'm learning to go with the flow a little more and not worry so much about "messing him up".  I continue to pray that God will keep him from harm and guide his steps and fulfill his dreams.  The prayers that all mothers pray.  I pray more that the world changes dramatically for the good before he gets old enough to understand what all is going on.  I can't imagine growing up in the public school system that I teach in. I hope things change and quickly!

Last night, Travis and I had the joy of seeing Tenth Ave North and Third Day live in concert at our church.  It was so amazing!  Such a small venue for such wonderful talent.  It was great being at a live concert again.  It's been awhile since I've attended a concert of that magnitude.  I'm getting goose bumps just writing about it.  I posted some pics on Facebook.  I could reach out and touch Mac Powell if I wanted to.  It was a great night and I'll never forget it.  I am blessed to be part of a church that can host such events.  Such a worshipful experience and fun just praising the LORD through powerful music!

Hope all of my readers out there are doing well.  I'll try to get better about keeping in touch :)  Until next time....

Where has the time gone?

WOW!  It's been a while since my last post.  The Bennett family is back in full schedule now and we already are missing the lazy days of summertime.  This year is proving to be busier than ever.  Tyler started Kindergarten.  He is doing very well and seems to be enjoying himself.  It's going to be a long year for me....he doesn't like to tell me EVERYTHING that happend in the day.  I know, I know, imagine what he'll be like when he's a teenager?!  I'm learning to listen really closely and savor the moments when he shares even the smallest detail of his day with me. This made me wonder about how God feels when we don't share with Him.  I know it's not exactly the same, due to HIS omniscience and stuff....but I imagine that he SAVORS those precious moments when we do share with Him.  The times when we really talk to Him about what's been going on in our day, our week, our life.  You know, I can always tell when Tyler wants something.  He starts talking and sharing and smiling...all the while I'm thinking, what is this strange behavior?  What is he after?  I hope I don't treat God like that.  I hope that I don't just start spending more time with Him when I want something.  I'm pretty sure He can see right through that.  It's pretty amazing how our own relationships with our children mimick so much the relationship that God has with us.  I am overwhelmed by the similarities in the feelings that we must share.  I try to be teachable in these moments and not let the lesson go unlearned :)

On a slightly lighter note (no pun intended ;)  I have lost 8 lbs and over 7 inches in the past 5 weeks.  I am enjoying my Curves membership and working out 5 days each week.  I'm actually getting to eat more than I thought I would so my body will have the energy to keep up this rigourous routine.  It's been an amazing journey.  The lbs haven't been coming off as quickly as I would have hoped, but I'm a bit older now and it's a bit of a different routine.  I'm learning to appreciate the muscle tone more and more.  I think I show off my newly cut bicep at least twice a week :)

Travis is busy this year as well. He is up for tenure this year and I am sure that we will all feel the stress of that process before too long!  He is enjoying his semester and adjusting back to being in charge of drop-off and pick up of Tyler!  Can't you just picture it now, all the soccer mom's in the carpool line at school and then Travis, patiently waiting to pick up Tyler.  It brings a smirk to my face!!   They are having some great quality time in the early mornings and afternoons.

Tyler will start piano lessons the first week of September.  He seems excited.  I'm excited, so that should count for something!

I'm currently reading The Secret Life of Bees.  It is a great way to wind down my evenings.  I am going to miss these characters as I wrap up the story.  Water for Elephants is next on my list.  I am hoping to keep up my reading through the school year this year because it really does relax me at night. 

I hope this catches everybody up on our "goings on".  Until next time....

A new journey and update on Summer Projects ;)

So, I know you've been dying to find out how the Bennett crew has done on their summer projects. I'm here to tell you that we're coming right along!  I can't exacty remember what all I said we were going to do, but here's a list of what we HAVE done :)

Tyler has a new twin loft bed w/appropriate mattress and is enjoying it!  It took over 5 hours to put together!  It was a birthday present from Nana and Grandaddy!  He loves it!  It's a space saver in the room and he's growing into being a "big boy"!

A retaining wall has been built around our well head area.  Landscaping is still underway, but the hard part is finished.  Big thanks to Gary for all of his help!  We couldn't have done it without him!

Travis installed over 130 feet of gutter shields! yay!!!  No more gardens growing in our gutters :)

We toured the Southeastern US and had a blast!  I didn't run the peachtree rd race this year...but there is always next year  :)  I really think it was for the best. Travis ran and did great!  He finished in just over an hour. He's now training for a half-marathon in November.  I'm pretty sure he's lost his mind.

Travis turned 35 and we had a great get together at the house!  What fun!!

While we were out of town we had 2 pine trees removed from our front yard!  That was a HUGE task!  Thanks to Richard for all of his hard work and taking care of things while we were out of town. It was so nice coming home to this project already completed :)

I've only read 3 books this summer which is not near as many as last summers total of 15, but my 1st and 3rd books were a bit longer than my usual reads, so I feel like that has been part of the slow pace.  I am going back to my quick paced books now, so I should be able to knock out about 3 more before school starts. Also, I have about 3 weeks less this summer so that definitely has an impact on the number of books I get to read.  I don't read much during the school year.  Too much math going on :)

And last but not least...my new journey that I am embarking on.  Of course, I've done this before, but I am hoping this will be the last time!  I re-joined weight watchers.  I am using the on-line community this time.  I am a lifetime member, but they changed the program and so now I am relearning all of the great stuff!  I am 10 days in and I have lost 3 lbs.  It's not bad at all.  I can pretty much eat whenever and whatever I want...maybe not as MUCH as would like....but I just have to decide if the point value is worth the short taste satisfaction.  The other major part of this weight loss plan is joining Curves.  If you haven't heard of it, it's a womens gym with crcuit training.  It's a 30 min workout with aerobic and strength training.  Personally, I enjoy it.  I get in, get it done, and get out.  My kind of exercise.  My heart is pumping and I'm sweating and I feel good afterwards.  I am definitely not the target audience for this place.  I a little embarrassed to say that the majority of the members are over 65 :(  or are trying to loose over 100lbs.  Not really my peer group, but I'm not really there to socialize :)  I'm excited to see the inches and pounds come off. My goal is to loose 25 lbs.   Should be a neat experience and you'll get to read all about it right here!!

Summer is winding down.  Tyler starts kindergarten ACADEMY on Monday, July 25th.  It's a 9 day program from 8-1130 am that introduces him to the routine of his new school.  I can't believe it's so soon!!  I go back full time on August 4th!  I hope to be about 10lbs thinner by then :) 

We still have a few projects to finish around the house...but overall, I'm satisfied with our summer.  It has been short and sweet.  Stay tuned as the new school year begins and our lives take on a different pace.  I'm not ready for the change..but hopefully, we'll ease right into a routine and not have too much trauma in the process!