Three's Company

Well, if you haven't heard by now, Spencer and I are expecting our first child.  We are due July 11, 2010.  We were very surprised, but that has now turned to pure excitement.  We cannot wait to meet our little one!  We have decided that we are not going to find out the sex of the baby.  We would also like that to be a surprise.  As my dad put it, "It's like knowing what you are getting for Christmas and not being able to play with it for another five months."  So we are going to wait and let that be a surprise too!  Now, many people do not like this idea, and cannot understand how in the world I am going to prepare for LBR's (Little Baby Roden) arrival.  I know the teacher in me would know right now if I could, but I am taking a completely different approach with this.  I am going to plan, but not over plan. I do not need all pink or all blue.  I already have the nursery planned out in my head, now I just have to locate everything and make it come together (with Spencer's help of course).

Our families were very excited when we shared our wonderful news with them.  Some seemed surprised and others seemed to expect it.  However, we have had nothing but love and support for LBR. 

On a side note, LBR stands for Little Baby Roden, but those are also my initials.  So sometimes I refer to myself as LBR squared.  Haha!

Merry Christmas 2009

This year we spent Christmas in Washington DC at my aunt's house.  We celebrated with Spencer's parents, April, Ramey, Grandmother, and the boys the weekend before at our house. 

Here are a few pictures from the Roden Family Christmas:

Ramey and April

Henry and Owen

Owen and Henry with their new night vision goggles.  So cute!

We left for Washington the next day.  We spent two days visiting with Trey and Christiana.  We enjoyed some delicious food and even took in a play at the Wooly Mammoth Theater.  Oh...and did I mention the northern Virginia/Washington DC area had just had the Blizzard of 2009.  There was a lot of snow on the ground and it was freezing.

Spencer at The Mall in front of the Capitol.

My aunt's house.  Look at the snow!

 

We had a wonderful Christmas and are truly thankful for being able to spend time with everyone.  We did leave a couple days early from DC because Spencer got sick on Monday, had just wasn't getting any better.  It's always better to be sick in your own home.  We are looking forward to the New Year and everything 2010 has to bring. 

Happy Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving at the farm this year.  My parents and sister, as well as my grandparents joined us.  It's so nice to be able to have the entire family together. 

  We had several tables put together.  We were able to seat 26 people around this table. 

Dougie Boy and Katie

 

Mom, Dougie Boy, and Joycie

The entire group! 

The Harrell Family

Owen and April

We are looking forward to our Christmas gatherings now.  Stay tuned for our Christmas adventures :)

I want to Rock and Roll all night, and party everyday.....

I personally have never been to a "Rock" concert.  I have been to many country concerts, but never anything like this.  A friend of mine from work sent me a note to my classroom on Friday and said she had two KISS concert tickets would Spencer and I like to go.  Now, I would personally never pay for KISS concert tickets, but the opportunity to go for FREE was something we just couldn't pass up.  It was TOTALLY an experience we will remember.  We had a great time, and now we can mark it off our list of things to do!  Check out our pics below:

  

  They are a little blurry because they were taken with my phone and I had to stretch them out.  But you get the picture.

Summer is officially over!

Well, since today was "Meet and Greet" with my new students I do feel that the new school year has begun.  It's hard to believe sometimes that I am going into my fifth year in the teaching profession.  However, I must say I love second grade so much more than teaching sixth grade.  But I did truly learn a lot teaching the older ones. 

With this new school year starting I have decided this year to begin work on my National Boards.  I am extremely nervous about this process.  However, I have a WONDERFUL AND SUPPORTIVE husband that encourages me to go through this.  We do not have children at the time and there is nothing but fear stopping me.  So as this school year begins so does my preparation for working on my NB's.

Please say your prayers for us as I work on this.  Not only will it be time consuming it will also be overwhelming.  It will take patience and lots of understanding from family and friends. 

So, with that said, I am ready for my second grade friends on Wednesday.  I am looking forward to a great year!

Outing #1: Helen Keller's Home

Well, if you keep up with my blog you would know that originally I had planned to take weekly outings with my grandmother.  However, a few things came up this summer and we were not able to go anywhere until Friday.  So the first and most likely final outing for the summer was Helen Keller's home in Tuscumbia, AL.

Tuscumbia is located in the northwest corner of the state.  It is approximately an hour and a half from Birmingham.  We left Friday morning around 7:30 and were home by 1:30.  We even stopped and had lunch in downtown Tuscumbia at a quaint little Italian bistro!

Me in front of Ivy Green (the name of the home)!

Katie and I at the well where Anne Sullivan taught Helen to spell out  water in her hand. 

My grandmother and I do plan on taking more trips, however it will have to be on the weekends or my off days during the school year! 

Camping: Lindsay Style

Spencer and I went camping last weekend.  I say "Lindsay" style because it wasn't tent camping.  We went in our travel trailer which has a slide out (makes for more room), an air conditioner,  and a bathroom.  I do not want to use a bath house.  So we use our own bathroom.  Which I must say is very nice! We went to the campground where my parents have their camper permanently set up.  We had a lot of fun.  We were able to hangout with my parents for the weekend and cook out.  On Friday night we enjoyed sitting around the campfire just chit chatting.  On Saturday we just hung out, went for a boat ride, and my sister and mom rode Katie's waverunner.  It was very relaxing and also very nice to have our own place.  We can't wait for fall, when it is cooler to go camping again!

I attempted to take pictures, but they did not turn out like I wanted.  I was practicing with my camera on manual.  Let's just say, I need more practice!

Happy Birthday Spencer!!!

Spencer's birthday is tomorrow, July 29th.  He will be 28 years old. It is so hard for me to believe I was there to celebrate his 16th birthday with him.  This will be the first birthday in 12 years Buddy has not been here to celebrate with him.  Spencer got Buddy on his 16th birthday.  Which I would say was the best birthday present ever!!!! If we could we would go out and adopt another chocolate male right now, but the timing just isn't right.  When it is we will be getting another dog.  I just wanted to wish Spencer a Happy Birthday and also remember Buddy!  There isn't a day that goes by that we don't miss him!

Recent Craft Project

For some reason I decided to get crafty or artsy as some may say.  I wanted a sign that I could put outside my classroom door.  When we were at the beach I noticed some cool signs with a lot of color.  I decided  I could just create my own.  So......this is what I came up with:

I have black ribbon to put on it so it can be hung.  I'll post a picture once I put it outside my classroom door. 

Grayton Beach

Spencer and I just returned from a week stay in Grayton Beach.  Our friends, Lauren and Russell, joined us in the middle of the week.  We had a blast!  It rained a couple of days, but as you know, beach weather comes and goes.  We were able to get to the beach every day.  We enjoyed just sitting on the beach under the umbrella and in the sunshine watching people. 

This is the night we went to the Red Bar.  It is one of our all time favorite restaurants. 

At the Red Bar!

Then on the last night we decided to take some beach photos.  Thanks to Lauren and Russell actually have couple ones!

   It was a very relaxing and much deserved vacation.  We were not ready to come back to the real world. 

The Fruits of Our Labor

Our yummy tomatoes!!!  We are so proud of ourselves.  We are not very good about growing anything, so therefore I must post about this.

Spencer using his new Cutco spreading knife to cut our first tomato of the season.

The yummy tomato sandwich!

Washington DC Day 1 and 2

We have been super busy so I was unable to blog the first day we were in Washington DC. 

We left Philadelphia Sunday morning and rode Amtrak into Union Station in Washington DC.

 

Once we arrived in DC we rode the Metro to our hotel, checked in, grabbed a bite of lunch, and hit the ground running.  We took the Metro to The Mall (not shopping) and then met our tour guide on the corner of 15th Street and Constitution for our DC by Foot Tour.  This tour was great.  We learned all kinds of information, but as I am typing I am unable to remember because I am so tired.  I will create a list of cool facts at some point when I am not exhausted. 

We were able to see the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Capitol Hill, Vietnam Memorial, World War II Memorial, and the White House. 

  World War II Memorial

Vietnam Memorial

The Rotunda in the Capitol

Closer View

Model of Freedom.  She sits on top of the dome at the capitol.  Freedom stands facing the east with her back to the Washington Monument because it is said that the sun never sets on Freedom. 

Inside the Library of Congress.

Outside The Library of Congress.

More posts to come!

Day 2 in Philly!

As in the previous blog post I stated we would be going a tour of Independence Hall on Saturday.  We also toured the Liberty Bell, Christ Church, Betsy Ross's House, Courthouse, Franklin Court, Franklin Museum, B. Free Post Office, and the Printing House.  We had quite a full day. 

Check out the photos and the info I learned!

Independence Hall, also known as, the Pennsylvania State House. 

 Inside Independence Hall.  This is the actual room where the Declaration of Independence was signed.  Can't you just imagine our founding fathers sitting here discussing the well being of our country.  FYI: This is what they used to put prisoners in when they were on trial.  They had to stand in the middle of the courtroom and face everyone.   This is why today when someone is on trial we call it, "standing trial."

The Liberty Bell

Inside Christ Church

This is the pew where Deborah and Benjamin Franklin sat every Sunday.

  Original chandelier.  They have to pull it down to change the candles out, but must use light the candles while it is up high because it tends to turn and gets wax everywhere. 

  The baptismal where William Penn was baptized.

The entrance to Franklin Court.

 

Benjamin Franklin's house is no longer here because his family claimed they could not afford to keep it up.  As you can see there is a metal replica of the outline.  This is on the exact spot where his house would have been.  Underneath the replica is an outline of the house.  The original pivy pit (where waste and brown water was placed) is still there.  Also the brink floor in the kitchen cellar is still there.  This was really cool to see!

A final thought from Ben Franklin himself! 

Stay tuned for tomorrow's adventures.  We are taking the train to Washington DC.  I am super excited about our adventure!