She's kind of a big deal.

In teacher-world there's this big award called "Teacher of the Year". I'm pretty sure most awards in the world give presents or gifts. Like I think if you win a Grammy you get a big trophy and lots of free designer stuff. And if you win the SEC championship I think your school wins lots of dollars and you get a free t-shirt and a cap and tons of parties.

In teacher-world "Teacher of the Year" means you win about five dollars and a slice of cake and then you get to do things like attend extra meetings, fill out tons of paperwork to apply for "DISTRICT Teacher of the Year" and you're automatically in charge of raising money for United Way.

You don't get much.But who wins "Teacher of the Year" says a lot about what the faculty values.
Because the award is chosen by teachers.

And this year, Leaphart Elementary gave the honor to my friend, Sally.

So, that means the teachers at Leaphart value:

1. Authenticity
2. Someone who likes children.
3. Someone who makes children feel known and loved.
4. Sincerity
5. Thinking
6. Meaningful instruction
7. Professional development
8. Someone who emphasizes the why
9. What really matters
10. Collaboration and encouragement

It was a big time honor to hug her neck along with her family, friends, and co-workers the day she won "Teacher of the Year".

Because she's kind of a big deal.

I love you, Sally!

I Said, She Heard

I said, "Reagan, let's go for a walk. Put your shoes on and I'll meet you outside."

She heard, "Reagan, Cinderella's having a formal ball down the street. Put your shoes on and I'll meet you outside."

Nathan's Mini-Me

Those of you who know Connor, my 17-month-old, know that he does not speak in words. He just points at things and says, "eh". That's all the noises he makes.

His doctor likes to think it's because I don't teach him things.

I hear lots of other 17-month-olds say lots and lots and lots of words and I act like it doesn't bother me but deep inside it a tiny little bit does.

So, you can imagine my joy and relief when I cleaned out a closet over the weekend, found Nathan's baby book his mother had given me a few years ago, and read the following about my now quite talkative, smart-as-anything manly man:

Began pointing to things and saying "eh".
Baby's first word: "bo" for bottle around 20 1/2 months. Actually began speaking at 21 1/2 months.

Like father, like son, I reckon.

My Junior Valentines

I love how much this one loves to sleep. Pretty sure that's the only thing he inherited from me.
I love that he is his daddy's mini-me.
I love his dimples.
I love how his face lights up at the mere mention of a banana.
I love how much he loves his brother and sister, especially when they get in that crib with him early in the morning and throw in every.single.toy we own.


I love this one's wit.
I love how he looks over his glasses like a 90-year-old man.
I love the way he tackles Reagan with a hug every afternoon when he gets off the school bus.
I love that this week he decided to take his Bible to school for his book share and for the setting we wrote "Mostly Middle East, 2000 plus years ago".
I love the way he reads Mo Willems books.


I love this one's smile.
I love how much she needs snuggle time in the mornings.
I love that the combination of her sense of humor, dramatic flare, and smart brain give me plenty of stories to share!
I love the way she dances....eyes closed, hands in the air, partying like it's 1999.
I love how much she loves to take care of her friends.

My Valentine

I love how much he loves our children. He is unbelievably patient with each one and no one can wrestle two boys while playing princess with a girl like he can!

I love how he is purposeful in telling the kids that he loves me the most. Not in a mean way, but in a way that reinforces what a marriage should look like. That the kids know that Mommy gets the first kiss when he walks in the door each day. That the boys can see how a husband should treat his wife and that Reagan can see what she should look for in her future mate.

I love the way he has so beautifully lived out Genesis 1:24 since the day we got married: "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh."

I love that when I say, "My stretch marks are so ugly", he says, "You are absolutely beautiful. Oh, and by the way, your stretch marks are getting smaller every day." He's a huge liar but it's still very sweet.

I love his heart for youth. He is an incredible teacher and speaker. It's truly amazing. He loves the teenagers of our church and disciples them in such a sincere and wise way.

I love his discipline and work ethic. He's very methodical, logical, and consistent. He makes me feel safe. I never worry that he's making a decision based on pure emotion.

I love his sense of humor. I used to joke that I was the funny one in the couple but he, hands down, is waaaaay funnier than me and I think I burn about 1,000 calories from 6pm-10pm each day from laughing until my sides cramp.

He is the real deal. A real man. Making our family feel loved, encouraged, and provided for.

I'm super stoked he's my valentine.

The DTR

Do people still use that term? The DTR? I'm not sure. I need to ask some of my really cool twenty-year-old friends. Back in the olden days, The DTR stood for The "Defining The Relationship" Talk. It took most couples about 5-10 hours to have it and afterward their friends would say in a serious voice, "How did the DTR go?" Here's the story of our DTR. It took us about 5 minutes. Because that's how I roll.

My senior year of college, I sang in the FCA praise band. We were AWFUL. Josh Ridings led it (the commander-in-chief of the current Josh Ridings Band and now he's awesome!!!!) but back in college we were a very bad praise band. Mainly because if we messed up we literally stopped singing and playing instruments and just laughed into the microphones. You think I'm kidding. I'm perfectly serious. Also, I was big time scared to get in front of people and FCA had boatloads of people so I think I might have made the quietest possible sound known to man while being all red and blotchy.

In spite of all of that, the president of FCA, Nathan Something, thought I was a hottie. So on January 26th he asked me be his date to the FCA semi-formal. I said "yes" then drove home and called my mom. I told her a great guy asked me on a date. I told her I don't know his last name. I also told her I think he's in the military because his hair is very, very short.

I assumed he just asked me because he's the president and presidents need to go to their own semi-formals so he searched for the hottest woman and settled for me. I figured he'd take me to the semi-formal, take me home, drop me off, and then that would be the end of that. But I assumed wrong.

He kept calling me and pursuing the mess out of me. I kept coming up with excuses to not go out with him. I needed to study. I needed to get a good night's sleep. Blah, blah, blah.

Finally, on February 8th, after heaps of me being a meanie and heaps of him being a real man, he asked me for the billionth time to go out. I again said "no". And that's when he said, "If you haven't noticed, I've been trying to find ways to spend time with you." And that's when I said in the most blunt voice known to man, "What are your intentions?" (That's how you reduce the DTR from 5 hours to 5 minutes. I know. I'm awesome.) He said, "I like you. I want to date you. And if that works out, I want to marry you." Nice. To the point. Logical. Makes sense to me. Certainly don't plan on marrying anyone I haven't dated first. Let's give it a go. So, I said "yes", we went to a coffeehouse, talked for a bajillion hours and the rest is history.

The perfect DTR.

A List of our Life

Lots of tiny things on my mind, none of them really worthy of a full post. So, we'll go with a list.

1. Cooking for the college students and twenty-somethings from our church tomorrow night! The goal is to bless them with some good, FREE food and our cozy home to hang out together. On the menu is breakfast for supper: sausage casserole, french toast casserole, bacon, biscuits, fruit, juice, and coffee.

2. Landon's first basketball game is Saturday. He can now get the ball in the hoop when he shoots and he can dribble like a pro! He has natural talent, just like his Uncle Kevin!

3. I love my Kindle. I love it so very much. I think about it a lot. I use it a lot. This may be worthy of an entire post. I could go on and on. It's so pretty and user-friendly and skinny and smooth.

4. Connor is still speaking zero words. But his grunts and squeals are getting louder and louder. Neat.

5. I leave you with my favorite Landon quote of the week.

Me: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Landon: a teacher

Oh, how I love that child.